NNA – President Xi Jinping welcomed Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to Beijing on Wednesday, as the Chinese capital hosts a number of Arab dignitaries for a forum it hopes will deepen ties with the region.
Several Arab leaders are this week visiting Beijing, which is seeking to present a quot;common voicequot; on the conflict between Israel and Hamas and improve cooperation.
Xi met Sisi in a grand ceremony outside Beijing#39;s Great Hall of People on Wednesday afternoon, state media footage showed, with the national anthems of both countries blaring out.
Cairo has said the two will discuss quot;regional and international issues of common interestquot;.
quot;Discussions will tackle ways to forge closer bilateral relations and to unlock broader prospects for cooperation in an array of fields,quot; the Egyptian presidency said.
Beijing has sought to build closer ties with Arab states in recent years, and last year brokered a detente between Tehran and its long-time foe Saudi Arabia.
It has also historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
And Beijing last month hosted rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah for quot;in-depth and candid talks on promoting intra-Palestinian reconciliationquot;.
United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as well as a host of other regional leaders and diplomats, is also among the delegates attending the forum.
Xi is set to deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony on Thursday, Beijing has said, aimed at building quot;common consensusquot; between China and Arab states.
Top of the agenda will be the war between Israel and Hamas, which Xi has called for an quot;international peace conferencequot; to resolve.
China sees a quot;strategic opportunity to boost its reputation and standing in the Arab worldquot; by framing its efforts to end that conflict against US inaction, Ahmed Aboudouh, an associate fellow with the Chatham House Middle East and North Africa Programme, told AFP.
quot;This, in turn, serves Beijing#39;s focus on undermining the US#39;s credibility and influence in the region,quot; he said.
quot;The longer the war, the easier for China to pursue this objective,quot; he added.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with counterparts from Yemen and Sudan in Beijing, saying he hoped to quot;strengthen solidarity and coordinationquot; with the Arab world.
He also raised China#39;s concerns over disruptive attacks on Red Sea shipping by Iran-backed Huthi forces acting in solidarity with Hamas with his Yemeni counterpart Shayea Mohsen al-Zindani.
quot;China calls for an end to the harassment of civilian vessels and to ensure the safety of waterways in the Red Sea,quot; state news agency Xinhua quoted him as saying. —AFP
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