President Xi Jinping of the People s Republic of China, today received Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in the Great Hall of People in Beijing. An official welcoming ceremony was held for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques on the occasion of his current visit to China. Memorial photos were taken, the reception was attended by a number of princes. Then, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China held a session of official talks at the Great Hall of the People. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques delivered a speech in which the King said, "We express our happiness about the level of relations reached between our two friendly countries, recalling with appreciation your Excellency's visit to your friendly country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in January 2016, during which we held fruitful meetings reflected positively on the joint cooperation in all fields. Among the fruits of these meetings were the formation of high-level Saudi-Chinese Committee that will serve as a framework to promote relations between the two countries to the level of the strategic partnership. On this occasion, I congratulate Your Excellency on the success of the 18th session of the Conference of the People's Congress which confirmed your position and wise leadership. The world is witnessing today many challenges that threaten its security and stability topped by the phenomenon of terrorism, interference in States' internal affairs, the arms race, and the clash of cultures which necessitate that the international community exert more efforts and work together to confront these challenges and enhance international peace and security. I would like to commend the positions of the friendly People's Republic of China in this area, looking forward to further coordination of positions and efforts between our two countries in this regard. For his part, the President of the People's Republic of China delivered a speech in which he welcomed the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, considering this visit as reflecting the extent of the King's great interest in developing relations between the two friendly countries. He talked about his previous visit to the Kingdom during which they reached concord and partnership between the two countries, expressing his thanks for the warm welcome and generous hospitality accorded to him in the Kingdom. The Chinese President emphasized their keenness to strengthen and promote relations between the Kingdom and China to the highest levels, noting that they consider the visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to their country as an important opportunity to further advance comprehensive strategic relations between the two countries. Then, they reviewed the relationships of friendship between the two countries, prospects of joint cooperation in various fields, and the latest developments at the international arena. The Chinese President held a luncheon banquet in honor of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The session of official talks was attended by Minister of State and Cabinet's Member Dr. Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, Minister of Economy and Planning Engineer Adel bin Mohammed Faqih, Minister of Education Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Issa, Minister of Transport Sulaiman bin Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Minister of Labor and Social Development Dr. Ali bin Nasser Al-Ghafis, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Nizar bin Obaid Madani, Assistant Special Secretary to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Tamim bin Abdulaziz Al-Salem, and Saudi Ambassador to China Turki Al-Madhi, and it was also attended by a number of Chinese ministers and officials.
