AP Speaker, Chinese FM Hold Talks in Beijing

Nada Mustafa

Arab Parliament SpeakerAdel bin AbdulRahman AlAsoomi, underlined that Arab-Chinese relations are governed by shared historical, cultural and civilizational commonalities, as well as mutual interests which ensure their continuous development and growth, adding that there are noble principles on which these relations are based, foremost among which the non-interference in internal affairs and respect for State’s sovereignty and free will.

This came during the meeting of the President of the Arab Parliament and his accompanying delegation with H.E. Mr. Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, as part of the official visit of AlAsoumi at the head of a high-level parliamentary delegation to China in response to the invitation extended by the Chairman of the Parliament of China.

AlAsoomi commended the positive and significant development of Arab-Chinese relations in multilateral international organizations, most notably the Shanghai Cooperation Organization comprising a number of Arab States as “dialogue partners”, and more recently the accession of three Arab States to BRICS group starting next year, and he expressed thanks to the leadership and people of the Republic of China for the great efforts to support Arab States accession to these organizations.

AlAsoomi added that China's positions in support of Arab issues, notably the Palestinian question, represent an important asset to Arab-Chinese relations, which have recently witnessed unprecedented qualitative developments, and he praised in this context the President of China’s global initiatives to contribute to achieving security, global stability, inclusive development and the promotion of civilized communication between all peoples.

From his side, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of China commended the role played by the Arab Parliament in supporting and strengthening Arab-Chinese relations, describing the visit of the Arab Parliament’s delegation to China as very successful and unprecedented.

Wang Yi emphasized China's full support to the Arab States in exploring their own development methods, stressing that the peoples and countries of the region are the ones who determine their future and not external forces that consider the region as their backyard, he added that China stresses the necessity of democratizing international relations.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of China clarified that although the Russian-Ukrainian crisis has caused global instability, however the international community must pay attention at the same time to the issue of a people suffering from occupation for decades without a solution, which is the Palestinian people, refusing two sets of rules and the principle of double standards.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of China expressed his aspiration for the Arab Parliament to have an influential and tangible role in implementing on the ground the global initiatives endorsed by the Chinese President, namely the Global Civilization Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Belt and Road Initiative.