Saudi Arabia sharing weal or woe with China: ambassador

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-10 16:54

RIYADH -- Saudi Arabia shares weal or woe with China whatever in the face of the devastating earthquake or the revelry of the Beijing Olympic Games, Saudi Ambassador to China Yahya bin Abdul-Kareem Al-Zaid said during an interview with Xinhua on Monday.

He believes that Chinese President Hu Jintao's upcoming visit to his country will successfully push forward the friendly cooperation between the two countries in all fields.

Yahya, who was appointed ambassador to China less than a year ago, experienced the devastating earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan Province and the Beijing Olympics.

He said all the Saudi people led by King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz were deeply saddened by the earthquake and shared the grief of the Chinese people, while they also shared the happiness of the summer Olympics.

Through all these big events, he and all Saudis get to know that the Chinese people have indomitable spirit and strive constantly even in adversity, which is an important reason for the Saudi people to pursue friendly cooperation with China out of their own will, he said.

King Abdullah always pays great attention to the friendly cooperative relations with China, and the king repeatedly stressed that advancing the Saudi-China ties is a significant part of the Saudi foreign policy, the ambassador said.

Feeling honored to help facilitate Chinese President Hu's second visit to Saudi Arabia within three years, Yahya said he believed that the visit would surely push forward the friendly cooperation in an all-round way.

As a former executive of the world largest oil corporation, Saudi Aramco, Yahya said that China and Saudi Arabia are highly complementary in the energy field and have a huge potential to expand cooperation.

He said Saudi Aramco had invited 12 Chinese children to visit Saudi Arabia this time and they would be jointly received here by President Hu and King Abdullah.

They will also visit some sites of interests in Saudi Arabia and have the opportunity to communicate and play with Saudi children, he said.

"Children are the future of any people in the world and the basis and future of the Sino-Saudi friendly relationship also rest with these children. We hope they will advance and deepen the current friendly cooperative ties in healthy development," he added.