Saudi Arabia and China reaffirmed on Friday their cooperation on the global oil market and the principle of non-interference in internal affairs.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Saudi King Salman signed a series of strategic deals, including one involving Chinese tech giant Huawei, since the official state visit began on Wednesday.
In a joint statement on Friday, the two sides said they “exchanged views regarding ways to reinforce and develop comprehensive strategic partnership relations between the Kingdom and China”.
It stressed the principles of sovereignty and “non-interference”, while affirming the importance of a peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict.
The statement added that the two sides agreed on the need to “strengthen joint cooperation to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program”, and for Tehran to respect “principles of good-neighborliness”.
The Chinese leader said his visit, during which he will meet other Gulf oil producers and attend a wider summit with Arab League countries on Friday, heralded a “new era” in relations.
“China looks forward to working with Saudi Arabia and Arab states to turn the two summits into milestone events in the history of China-Arab relations and China-GCC relations, and bring these relations to new heights,” the foreign ministry cited Xi as saying.
Qatar’s emir, Kuwait’s crown prince, and the presidents of Egypt, Tunisia, Djibouti, Somalia and Mauritania are among rulers attending, alongside leaders and prime ministers of Iraq, Morocco, Algeria, Sudan and Lebanon.
Xi held bilateral talks with several regional leaders ahead of the summits on Friday, such as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Iraqi Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani, Sudanese leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Source: Agencies
