KUWAIT: Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Al-Yahya on Monday held in-depth discussions with Chinese officials dealing with means of boosting relations in execution of mega development ventures. The minister, according to a statement released by the foreign ministry, received Chinese Ambassador to Kuwait Zhang Jianwei, with the attendance of the head and members of a Chinese government delegation tasked with completing consultation on joint development projects.

The meeting with the visiting Chinese officials was held at the ministry headquarters, the official statement said, noting that the two sides explored the close bilateral relations and strategic cooperation between Kuwait and China, where they also broached “frameworks of boosting and promoting the relations in various sectors and at diverse levels”.

The two sides held in-depth discussions, focusing on the necessity to cement technical, development and economic ties in the realm of executing mega development projects in Kuwait. Moreover, they addressed the need to offer proposals and the aspired perceptions for attaining aspirations of the supreme political leadership to press ahead with laying the foundations of a future plan to launch common strategic ventures, namely Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port. — KUNA

China will host a number of other Arab leaders in Beijing this week, its foreign ministry said Monday. The leaders will from Tuesday to Saturday “pay state visits to China and attend the opening ceremony of the 10th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum”, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement.

Among the delegation will be Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, Tunisian President Kais Saied and the United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, Vice Foreign Minister Deng Li said President Xi Jinping would attend the forum and deliver a keynote address on Thursday.

Xi would also “hold talks with the four heads of state respectively to exchange views on bilateral relations and regional and international issues of common concern”, Deng said. The forum would aim to deepen “consensus between China and Arab countries”, Deng said, and would be co-chaired by top diplomat Wang Yi and his Mauritanian counterpart. They would also “issue a common voice between China and Arab countries on the Palestinian issue”, he said.

China has sought to build closer ties with Arab states in recent years, and last year brokered a detente between Tehran and its long-time foe Saudi Arabia. The meeting with Arab leaders in Beijing comes as China seeks to position itself as a mediator in the conflict between the Palestinian group Hamas and the Zionist entity. China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and supportive of a two-state solution to the Zionist-Palestinian conflict. And Xi has called for an “international peace conference” to resolve the fighting. – Agencies