Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Neom on Wednesday.
At the outset of the meeting, HRH the Crown Prince welcomed the current visit of Chinese Foreign Minister to the Kingdom. For his part, the visiting Minister conveyed the greetings of President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China to HRH the Crown Prince who, in turn, conveyed his greetings to the President.
During the meeting, various aspects of Saudi-Chinese relations, areas of bilateral cooperation and opportunities to develop cooperation in different sectors were reviewed.
Regional and international developments, efforts made to enhance security and stability and issues of common interest were also discussed.
The meeting was also attended by the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and China’s ambassador to the Kingdom Chen Weiqing.
Saudi and Chinese FM discuss relations
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Riyadh on Tuesday.
“During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations between the two countries, and ways to support and enhance them in a way that serves their common interests,” the foreign ministry said.
They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern.
Earlier Wang told Al Arabiya that China supported Saudi Arabia’s new peace initiative for Yemen. He also said Beijing had a five point plan to help the Middle East.
Wang also met with Nayef Al-Hajraf, the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Al-Hajraf said member countries wanted to enhance cooperation and relations with China in various fields, as well as to expedite free trade negotiations between the two parties.
“During the meeting, they discussed the latest regional and international developments, especially enhancing regional security and stability by adhering to the UN’s Charter and Security Council resolutions, respecting state sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs and combating terrorism,” the GCC said in a statement.
Al-Hajraf said it was important for GCC countries to take part in any negotiations on Iran and its nuclear program. The talks, he added, should include Tehran’s development of ballistic missiles and drones, the security and safety of shipping, and its destabilizing behavior in the region.
The two sides agreed on the need to enhance cooperation in strategic, economic, health and development fields, especially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Both sides agreed on the importance of investing in opportunities resulting from the pandemic in the fields of digital economy and artificial intelligence, and e-commerce.
They also called for “maximizing joint benefit from China’s Belt and Road Initiative projects in a way that enhances each side’s positive contribution with the international community to achieve security, stability and sustainable development.”
