The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and China have stressed the importance of joint action to strengthen strategic partnership relations between the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) member states and China, including the sealing of a free trade agreement between the two sides.
This came in the joint statement issued today at the conclusion of the Saudi-Chinese summit, during which a session of talks was held between the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and HRH Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, on one side and on the other side President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping.
The two sides stressed the importance of concluding a free trade agreement between the GCC and China, and working towards holding the GCC-China Meeting of Ministers of Economy and Trade 6 + 1 between GCC and China.
The Two sides also emphasised the importance of the stability of global oil markets and the uninterrupted food supply of wheat and grains to all countries of the world, as well as maintaining supply abundance and price stability.
Furthermore, Saudi Arabia and China stressed the importance of strengthening their cooperation in the field of energy as an important strategic partnership. They also expressed determination to develop cooperation and coordination in the defence fields by raising the level of exchange of information and expertise in the field of combating organised crime, early intelligence warning, assessing security risks, and combating cybercrimes.
Regarding political matters, the two sides discussed a host of key issues including the Yemeni affair, the war in Ukraine, Syria and the developments of the Palestinian cause.
They stressed the need to intensify efforts to achieve a comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and find a real horizon for resuming serious and effective negotiations in order to achieve peace in accordance with the principle of two-state solution, the relevant international legitimacy resolutions, and Arab Peace Initiative, in a way that guarantees the rights of Palestinian people to establish their independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Chinese president arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh on Wednesday, where he is scheduled to participate later today in the Gulf-Chinese Summit and the Arab-Chinese Summit, which will be attended by the leaders of the countries of the region.