Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), met with Mr. Li Zhihui, Director-General of the Overseas Promotion Bureau of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The two sides discussed ICESCO’s participation as a key partner in implementing the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) and the Global Development Initiative (GDI), launched by H.E. President Xi Jinping, as well as several programs and initiatives in civilizational dialogue, heritage preservation and artificial intelligence.

During the meeting, held on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, in Beijing, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation and elevating bilateral relations between ICESCO and China to a strategic partnership. They also noted that China’s accession to ICESCO as an Observer State would foster greater civilizational rapprochement and open broad prospects for cooperation between the Islamic world and Beijing.

The discussions explored ways to advance cooperation in civilizational dialogue through cultural exchange programs and youth camps. They also addressed the organization of conferences and training workshops on heritage restoration and preservation, as well as support for efforts to remove threatened heritage sites from the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The meeting further explored the possibility of launching a new edition of the “10K AI Leaders” Program, implemented by ICESCO in partnership with the International Center for AI Research and Ethics (ICAIRE) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Chinese official expressed his country’s willingness to implement a similar AI capacity-building program for young people.

The meeting was attended by Mr. Anar Karimov, Head of ICESCO Partnerships and International Cooperation Sector, and Ambassador Khalid Fathalrahman, Head of ICESCO Center for Civilizational Dialogue.