RIYADH: China and Saudi Arabia adhere to the principle of mutual respect and equality for their respective cultural traditions and core values, despite different national circumstances.

Representing Chinese civilization and the Islamic civilization separately, they both advocate respect, harmony and dialogue among civilizations. The friendly relationship between China and the Kingdom becomes a model of accommodation between different civilizations, said Chinese Ambassador Li Chengwen.

Mutual respect and tolerance between China and the Kingdom ensures that Sino-Saudi relations move in the right direction. The strength of their ties is symbolized by an Arabic proverb, which says that men who go along different ways will not be partners.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has emphasized that the Kingdom complies with the principle of respect for national sovereignty, regional peace and stability in the fight against all forms of terrorism. These principles also coincide with Chinese views.

China firmly stands with the Kingdom by upholding the Palestinian people’s right to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. It also plays an active role in promoting the Middle East peace process.

China supports the Kingdom’s idea of promoting a nuclear weapon-free Middle East. In regard to other regional issues, China plays a constructive role to seek a political resolution. In the future, China will further coordinate with the Kingdom for commitment to regional stability and development.

Mutually beneficial cooperation is the driving force of Sino-Saudi relations. The Kingdom has been China’s top oil supplier. It is also the largest trading partner of China in West Asian and African region for many years.

Currently, both Saudi Arabia and China are in a historic period of development. China actively supports the economic development and guides it in order to change the economic development mode through a new structure of a free market economy, while Saudi Arabia focuses on realizing economic diversification, promoting construction and increasing employment.

The two countries’ cooperation in infrastructure development has been expanding rapidly in emerging fields, such as new energy, aerospace, science and technology and finance. “I believe that the level of cooperation between the two states will continue to rise as production capacity cooperation in many fields shows great potential,” Chengwen observed

About 2,000 years ago, the Silk Road linked Saudi Arabia and China together. About 500 years ago, Chinese Muslim navigator Zheng He led his famous fleet to visit Saudi Arabia. Today, the development of Sino-Saudi relations faces a new historic opportunity and the prospect of the two countries’ cooperation in various fields is more promising than ever before.

As a result of China's economic development and deepening of reform and opening up to the world, China will continue to provide more opportunities for growth, investment and cooperation for other countries in the world, with Saudi Arabia as an important partner.

China will import more than $10 trillion worth of goods in the next five years and invest more than $500 billion in foreign countries. These will create great potential for Sino-Saudi cooperation. Today, in order to achieve peace, cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win situation for regional countries, China is actively promoting the initiative of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road with other countries.

“Our cooperation in this respect has already made achievement this year. For example, Saudi Arabia and China both become the founding member-states of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. With eyes on the future, we can see huge potential to further expand our cooperation. Guided by the spirit of mutual respect and common belief, China is ready to work with the Kingdom to further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, to promote Sino-Saudi relations to a new height, and to benefit the people of both countries,” he observed.