President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping delivered a speech in which he expressed pleasure of participating in this conference in response to an invitation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, commending the efforts made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to prepare and arrange this conference. Recent days witnessed a huge increase in oil prices which in turn affected global economy and raised widespread interest. The current situation is a difficult challenge for producing and consuming countries alike, he said. He said that this challenge shall be confronted by joint efforts by the producing and consuming countries, promoting dialogue and cooperation among them and taking appropriate actions to curb price increase. He pointed out that this conference which is held in an appropriate time allows all of us to find ways for stabilizing world oil markets in terms of production, supply and consumption. He stressed that energy is a global issue and it is an urgent need for all countries to ensure its security. In this context, the international community must devote the concept of energy security, which is based on mutual benefit, diversifying energy sources and joint cooperation among countries. He noted that strengthening cooperation between producer and consumer countries is achieved through dialogue, consultation and coordination in the field of energy policy. He stressed the need to exert efforts to ensure political stability in producing countries, maintain natural order of world energy markets, limit excessive speculation, secure ways for international energy and form a balanced long-term system. --More
