Xi meets Kuwaiti crown prince, pledging to take bilateral ties to new heights

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 22, 2023. The crown prince is in Hangzhou to attend the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games scheduled for Saturday. [Photo by Liu Bin/Xinhua]

HANGZHOU, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday vowed to work with Kuwait to take the bilateral ties to new heights when meeting with Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

The crown prince is in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province, to attend the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games scheduled for Saturday.

Noting that Kuwait was the first Gulf Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with China and the first country in the Middle East to sign Belt and Road cooperation documents with China, Xi said the China-Kuwait relationship has made significant progress, yielding great achievements across various fields of cooperation.

China supports Kuwait in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Xi said, commending Kuwait for actively participating in the cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

China is ready to work with Kuwait to strengthen the synergy of development strategies; enhance cooperation in investment, energy, infrastructure, environmental governance, digital economy and other fields; advance cooperation in law enforcement, security and counter-terrorism; and boost cultural and people-to-people exchanges, Xi said.

China hopes that Kuwait continues supporting China's rural revitalization strategy and providing a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory market environment for Chinese enterprises investing in Kuwait, Xi said.

Expressing satisfaction with the achievements of bilateral cooperation, the Kuwaiti crown prince said Kuwait will firmly support and actively participate in the BRI, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative.

Kuwait will firmly follow the one-China policy, support China on issues concerning China's core interests, deepen bilateral cooperation in various fields, and step up communication and cooperation with China in the Middle East and the Gulf region, he said.

After the meeting, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a joint statement on the China-Kuwait cooperation plan from 2024 to 2028, and bilateral cooperation documents in areas including renewable energy, infrastructure and environmental governance.

Senior Chinese leaders including Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Wang Yi and Shen Yiqin attended the activities.