People taste food at the China-Arab States Expo 2015 in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Sept. 10, 2015. The second China-Arab States Expo, a platform to promote ties between China and the Middle East countries, kicked off on Thursday. [Photo: Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi]

YINCHUAN, Sept. 11 -- A total of 163 deals worth about 171.2 billion yuan (26.8 billion U.S. dollars) were signed on Friday at the second China-Arab States Expo in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The agreements involve halal food and agriculture, new materials, equipment manufacture, medical care and pharmaceuticals, energy and chemicals, industrial park construction, housing, textiles, and services.

Eighty-six agreements were signed between China and foreign countries or regions with a combined value of 106 billion yuan, of which 60 were signed with Arab countries with a total value of 75.4 billion yuan.

The expo, which kicked off on Thursday in Ningxia' s capital Yinchuan and will run until Sunday, is sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and the regional government of Ningxia, home to more than 10 percent of China's 20 million Muslims.