President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping expressed happiness to make this visit, his first to the Kingdom after assuming office, stressing that the choice to visit the Kingdom reflects the Government of China's keenness on developing relations of cooperation and friendship with the Kingdom. He said that China appreciates the keenness of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz on the development of the Saudi-Chinese relations. He pointed out that relations between his country and Saudi Arabia are on the growth in various aspects of cooperation, especially after the visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to the People's Republic of China in 2006. Jinping conveyed his country's government thanks and appreciation of the Kingdom for its humanitarian stand with China following the earthquake, which hit some of its parts. To this effect, he said "at the time the Chinese government and people were struggling to combat this natural disaster, Saudi Arabia provided generous assistance for China, making the Kingdom the first in the world in terms of volume of aid. This is yet another evidence for the friendly relations between the two countries." During the session, the latest developments at the regional and international arenas, particularly the Palestinian issue and other issues of common concern were reviewed and aspects of cooperation between the two friendly countries, ways of strengthening and enhancing them in all fields were discussed. --More
