China, GCC pledge to push for development of cooperative relations

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met on Sunday with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)'s "troika" of foreign ministers and other officials to discuss relations between China and GCC member states.

The "troika" included Kuwaiti First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah, Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah, and GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani. Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi also attended the meeting.

Wang said in recent years, China-GCC relations have been developing steadily and both sides have kept high-level contacts and exchanges at various levels.

Pragmatic cooperation between China and the GCC has yielded fruitful results in the major fields of economy, trade, energy, investment and finance, Wang said.

China and the GCC states have entered a critical stage of development. The two sides form a community of interests in the course of development, and it serves the interests of both sides to maintain the healthy and stable development of the China-GCC relations, Wang said.

China stands ready to work with the GCC in an effort to establish the China-GCC strategic partnership, so as to raise the 30-year-old friendly relations of cooperation to a new high, and to chart the course of bilateral ties from a strategic perspective, said the Chinese foreign minister.

Wang expressed hope of restarting the negotiation on the China-GCC Free Trade Area as soon as possible and making joint efforts with the GCC to push for the development of "One Belt and One Road", namely, the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road".

China also hopes that the GCC states can take an active part in the preparation and negotiation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Wang noted.

Wang added that both sides should strengthen coordination on international and regional affairs, and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability.

Sabah and other GCC officials said China-GCC relations have reached an unprecedented level. Both sides have supported each other on issues concerning their respective core interests, and the GCC will firmly uphold the one-China policy.

Having been expanding cooperation in various areas, China and the GCC have become important economic partners. The GCC is ready to expand common interests with China and achieve common development, they said.

Both sides also exchanged views on the situation and hot issues in the Middle East.