Bahrain King to participate in GCC, Arab summits today with Xi Jinping

TDT | Manama                   

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com  

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa will lead Bahrain’s delegation to the Riyadh Arab-China Summit for Cooperation and Development today, at the invitation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. The summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping termed, after landing to a lavish welcome in Riyadh, as a “new era” in Arab relations. On today’s meeting with the wider gathering of Arab leaders, Xi said the GCC states are a “treasure trove of energy for the world economy... and are fertile ground for the development of high-tech industries.”

The summit, Xi Jinping termed, after landing to a lavish welcome in Riyadh, as a “new era” in Arab relations. On today’s meeting with the wider gathering of Arab leaders, Xi said the GCC states are a “treasure trove of energy for the world economy ... and are fertile ground for the development of high-tech industries”.

Earlier yesterday, members of the Saudi Royal Guard riding Arabian horses and carrying Chinese and Saudi flags escorted Xi’s car as it entered the royal palace in Riyadh, where Prince Mohammed greeted him with a warm smile.

Xi’s aircraft was also escorted by Saudi air force jets as it entered Saudi airspace and a 21- gun salute was fired as senior Saudi royals met him at the airport, the Chinese foreign ministry said. In an op-ed published in Saudi media, Xi said he was on a “pioneering trip” to “open a new era of China’s relations with the Arab world, the Arab countries of the Gulf, and Saudi Arabia”.

China and Arab countries would “continue to hold high the banner of non-interference in internal affairs, firmly support each other in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity”, he wrote. The Saudi energy minister on Wednesday said Riyadh would remain a “trusted and reliable” energy partner for Beijing and that the two would boost cooperation in energy supply chains by establishing a regional centre in the kingdom for Chinese factories.

Chinese and Saudi firms also signed 34 deals for investment in green energy, information technology, cloud services, transport, construction and other sectors, the state news agency SPA reported. It gave no figures but had earlier said the two countries would seal initial agreements worth $30 billion. Saudi also signed a memorandum of understanding with Huawei Technologies on cloud computing and building high-tech complexes in Saudi cities, the government communication office said in a statement.