Chinese president hails ‘fruitful’ ties with Algeria in Saudi Arabia meeting

ISTANBUL (AA) - China’s President Xi Jinping met with Algerian Prime Minister Ayman Benabderrahmane on Friday in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh and hailed fruitful cooperation between the two nations, local media reported Friday.

Xi noted that China and Algeria enjoy traditional friendship and that their practical cooperation has yielded fruitful results, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

Citing Xi, the report said “China-Algeria practical cooperation has a solid foundation and great potential.”

Xi added that Beijing is willing to deepen cooperation with Algeria in the fields of infrastructure, energy, mining, and aerospace under the Belt and Road cooperation.

For his part, Benabderrahmane thanked China for its long-term and valuable support to Algeria, including the supply of COVID-19 vaccines and the production of vaccines in the country.

He said Algeria hopes to further strengthen cooperation with China in infrastructure and other fields, and strive for new progress in Arab-China and Africa-China relations, he added.

On Wednesday evening, Xi arrived in Saudi Arabia on a three-day official visit to attend the first China-Arab Summit and China-Gulf Summit in Riyadh as well as to hold talks with Saudi officials.

The Chinese president’s visit came three months after US President Joe Biden visited Riyadh amid an energy crisis caused by Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine which started in February.

Xi’s last visit to Saudi Arabia was in 2016.