China prioritizes Saudi Arabia in overall diplomacy, particularly in Middle East -- Chinese premier

Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and co-chairs the Fourth Meeting of the High-Level Chinese-Saudi Joint Committee with him at Riyadh's al-Yamamah Palace in Saudi Arabia, Sept. 11, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

China puts the development of relations with Saudi Arabia as a priority in its overall diplomacy, especially in its Middle East diplomacy, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday.

The premier made the remarks when meeting with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and co-chairing the Fourth Meeting of the High-Level Chinese-Saudi Joint Committee with him.

During their talks, Li first conveyed Chinese President Xi Jinping's warm greetings to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Crown Prince.

He highlighted that under the strategic guidance of the two countries' leaders, China and Saudi Arabia have maintained mutual respect, trust, and benefit, as well as mutual learning and understanding. The bilateral relationship has developed comprehensively, rapidly, and deeply, with fruitful results in various areas of cooperation.

China is willing to firmly support each other with Saudi Arabia and work towards mutual achievements, firmly regard each other's development as an important opportunity, and further strengthening the role of the High-Level Chinese-Saudi Joint Committee, with the aim of advancing bilateral relations to new heights and continuously improving the well-being of both peoples, said the premier.

China and Saudi Arabia, as major developing countries, share extensive common interests. China is willing to work closely with Saudi Arabia and advance together on the path of development, said Li.

He called on both sides to further expand bilateral trade, deepen cooperation in traditional areas such as oil and gas, petrochemicals and infrastructure, explore collaboration in emerging fields like new energy, information and communication, and the digital and green economies, while encouraging their respective companies to invest in each other's countries and working together to maintain global industrial and supply chain stability.

He urged both sides to successfully organize the China-Saudi Arabia Year of Culture in 2025, advance cooperation in culture, think tanks, education, media, non-governmental and people-to-people exchanges, and continuously enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of the two countries.

China supports Saudi Arabia in playing a greater role in international and regional affairs and is ready to enhance multilateral coordination with Saudi Arabia, foster unity and cooperation among Asian nations, jointly uphold international fairness and justice, and promote global governance in a more just and reasonable direction, Li said.

For his part, the Saudi crown prince said that Saudi Arabia and China have a long history of friendly exchanges.

Under the strategic guidance of King Salman and President Xi, Saudi Arabia-China relations have maintained a high level of development, and the two countries are reliable comprehensive strategic partners to each other, he added.

With high-level political mutual trust and deepening cooperation in various fields, Saudi Arabia looks forward to further strengthening high-level exchanges with China, fully utilizing the High-Level Saudi-Chinese Joint Committee mechanism, aligning development strategies more closely, and enhancing communication and cooperation in areas such as energy, investment, finance, and culture and people-to-people exchanges, so as to better serve the benefits of the two peoples, the crown prince said.

Sharing similar positions and bearing common responsibilities on international and regional issues, Saudi Arabia and China adhere to the principles of respecting other nations' sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs, he said.

Saudi Arabia highly appreciates China's just stance on the Palestinian issue and is ready to collaborate closely with China on international multilateral affairs, contributing to the maintenance of regional and global peace, security, and stability, he told Li.

During the visit, the two sides signed several bilateral cooperation documents on technical and vocational training, meteorology, and other areas.