Chinese FM calls for pushing China-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership to higher level

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday that China is willing to work with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to advance the China-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level.

The UAE is a country in the Middle East with distinctive importance and influence. The development strategies of China and the UAE are in alignment, the philosophies of governance are similar, and the economies are highly complementary, making the two countries natural friends and partners, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, when meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

In the more than four decades since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China and the UAE have respected and supported each other, and the bilateral ties have withstood the test of the changing international landscape and maintained a sound and steady development, Wang noted.

China is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with the UAE, implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, stay committed to the original aspirations of diplomatic ties, deepen strategic mutual trust, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and carry forward the traditional friendship, so as to jointly push for a higher level of bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, he added.

Noting the second China-Arab States Summit is scheduled to be held in China next year, Wang said he expects to welcome the participation of Arab leaders, and expressed the hope that, with the support by the UAE and other Arab nations, the summit will yield positive outcomes and elevate China-Arab states relations to a new level.

Sheikh Abdullah said that over the more than four decades since the establishment of diplomatic relations, UAE-China relations rapidly developed based on mutual respect and trust, witnessing fruitful cooperation across various fields and deepening people-to-people friendship, thus becoming a model for state-to-state relations.

He stressed that the UAE firmly adheres to the one-China principle, firmly supports China in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity and in achieving national reunification, and resolutely opposes foreign interference in China's internal affairs.

The two sides also exchanged views on issues such as the situation in the Middle East.