The two parties set this goal at the Saudi-China Joint Business Council meeting held at the headquarters of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, (SCCI) Sunday.

The Saudi team was led by Abdul Rahman Al-Jeraisy, vice president of the SCCI, while the Chinese trade delegation comprising 100 delegates, was led by Timor Danumati.

"We welcome this massive trade delegation which has come to the Kingdom to explore new areas of cooperation in bilateral trade," Al-Jeraisy said in his opening speech at the meeting Sunday.

Al-Jeraisy noted that China, being one of the major exporters to the Kingdom not only looks for new opportunities in the Kingdom but also would consolidate the existing market by improving their quality and prices of Chinese goods.

"Our bilateral trade in 2008 stood at $42 billion, we would like to take this achievement to reach a goal of $60 billion in 2015," Al-Jeraisy said.

He said the dialogue between the businessmen of the two countries would help the two parties to understand each other well and explore new areas of cooperation. During the 2003-08 period, China-Saudi Arabia trade registered annual growth rates of 30 to 50 percent. In 2008, bilateral trade surged by 64.7 percent to $41.8 billion, two years ahead of the goal set in 2006.

Al-Jeraisy pointed out that China is the second largest trade partner to the Kingdom, while Saudi Arabia remains China's No. 1 partner in the region.

Chairman of Saudi Chinese Joint Business Council Chen Xifu's said trade between Saudi Arabia and China has developed fast in the past ten years, which is regarded as a miracle. " We hope the miracle will be created again in the next five or ten years."

In response to Al-Jeraisy's speech, Zirong Yu,commercial counselor of the Chinese embassy in Riyadh said that the bilateral trade between the two countries are steadily growing due to the untiring efforts of the joint council and the Saudi-Chinese Friendship Society.