Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to China Turki M. A. Almadi (left) gives a speech at the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Saudi Arabia at the Bulgari Hotel in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: Sun Haoran/GT

A Chinese expert said that China-Saudi Arabia relations are solid and extraordinary when the two countries celebrated the 30th anniversary of their bilateral ties, and noted that both countries highly value their relationship, particularly in terms of stable oil supply, strategic cooperation, and regional peace and development.

"China and Saudi Arabia have established a solid strategic cooperative relationship for more than 10 years," Yin Gang, an expert on Middle East studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

"Saudi Arabia needs China's huge market to ensure its steady oil supply, enhance its influence in the Arab world, and balance the force with other Arab powers in the Middle East," said Yin.

Yin noted that "as an influential power in West Asia, Saudi Arabia has maintained extraordinary relations with China, including cooperation in petroleum, trade and the military affairs. China and Saudi Arabia share many common interests in regional security."

In a recent exchange of congratulatory messages on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of China-Saudi Arabia diplomatic ties, Chinese President Xi Jinping noted that over the past 30 years, bilateral relations have seen steady development, with cooperation bearing rich fruits in various fields, Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.

Xi said he is ready to work with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to lead bilateral relations to new achievements in the new era for the benefit of both countries and their peoples, said Xinhua. 

At this time, Xi said, China and Saudi Arabia are working together against COVID-19 to protect the health and well-being of both peoples, safeguard regional and global public health security, and have left behind touching stories of mutual assistance, according to Xinhua.

In his message, King Salman said that since the establishment of China-Saudi Arabia diplomatic relations 30 years ago, great progress has been made in various fields, demonstrating the profound friendship between the two countries and the high-level strategic relationship.

The Saudi king said he is willing to push for continuous development of the special relationship so as to serve the common interests of both countries and their peoples. He added that Saudi Arabia looks forward to carrying out more cooperation with China to promote regional and global security. 

"Relations between countries in the Middle East are complex. The basic principle of China's diplomacy in this region is to develop friendly relations with all the countries," Yin said.

Turki M. A. Almadi (6th from left), Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to China, Zhai Jun (3rd from right), Special Envoy of the Chinese Government on the Middle East Issue, and other diplomats and guests cut a cake to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Saudi Arabia diplomatic ties in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: Courtesy of Saudi Arabian Embassy in Beijing

The Saudi Arabian embassy in China held a reception at the Bulgari Hotel in Beijing Tuesday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to China Turki M. A. Almadi, Special Envoy of the Chinese Government on the Middle East Issue Zhai Jun, and diplomats from other Arab nations in Beijing took part in the celebration.

Almadi remarked at the event, "In the past 30 years, Saudi Arabia-China relations have developed rapidly and become a model of friendly relations between countries. Throughout the development of bilateral relations since 1990, fruitful results have been achieved."

"The two countries have enjoyed all-round and multi-faceted relations not only in bilateral trade and mutual investment, but also in cooperation in the fields of culture, science and technology and health," he noted.

The ambassador stressed that "we highly appreciate China's positive stance on Saudi Arabia amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the mutual support between the two countries. Saudi Arabia and China are good friends with mutual trust."

"We look forward to developing all-round relations with China in various fields, and hope that the relations between the two countries will achieve substantial development in the near future. We will continue to strengthen our ties and achieve our common interests," he added.

"Thirty years ago, the leaders of both China and Saudi Arabia, proceeding from the fundamental interests of the two peoples and a long-term strategic perspective, made a historic decision to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries, which opened a new page in our  relations," said Zhai.

Zhai noted that "in the past 30 years, the China-Saudi Arabia relations have made great progress. High-level exchanges between the two countries are getting closer and political mutual trust is deepening day by day."

"The two countries understand and support each other on issues of common interests and major concerns, and new achievements have been made in pragmatic cooperation in various fields. Saudi Arabia has been China's largest crude oil supplier in the world and the largest trading partner in the West Asian and African region for many consecutive years," Zhai said.

He added that China highly values China-Saudi Arabia relations, and hopes to work together with Saudi Arabia to take the 30th anniversary as an opportunity to continuously enhance political mutual trust, promote the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative to be compatible with Saudi Vision 2030, further deepen bilateral practical cooperation, improve friendship between the two peoples, and jointly create a better future for China-Saudi Arabia relations.