By Diego Ramos / Original to ScheerPost
China is expected to welcome four leaders from the League of Arab States this week to meet with President Xi Jinping and attend the 10th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum. This event underscores China’s active role in fostering peace and stability in the region.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-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 are set to land in Beijing starting May 28 with talks anticipated to center around Palestine as well as a free-trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Foreign vice-minister Deng Li spoke at a briefing Monday, emphasizing the ties between China and the visiting countries. The meetings, according to Deng, would “exchange views regarding bilateral ties and regional and international issues of common concern,” showcasing the “unity between China and the Arab world.”
With regard to Palestine, Deng mentioned, “The goal is to end the Gaza conflict as soon as possible and realise peace, and at the same time promoting the international community’s determination to implement the ‘two-state solution’ with greater determination and more concrete actions to ultimately achieve long-term peace and stability in the Middle East region.”
According to the South China Morning Post, the free-trade deal, under negotiation since in 2004, is nearing completion. The report stated, “In January, Chen Weiqing, who was then China’s top envoy to Saudi Arabia, said about 90 per cent of the terms of the free-trade negotiations between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries had been completed.”
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Diego Ramos
Diego Ramos, ScheerPost Special Projects Editor and New York bureau chief, is a journalist from Queens, NY. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He has previously worked at BuzzFeed News and was managing editor of Annenberg News at USC. He’s covered and researched myriad topics including war, politics, psychedelic research and sports.
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