President Bashar al-Assad of the Syrian Arab Republic, accompanied by First Lady Mrs. Asma al-Assad and a large government delegation, visited China from September 21-26, beginning with attending the opening of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.
This was President Assad’s second visit to China, the first being in 2004. Syria was one of the first Arab countries to establish diplomatic relations with China, on August 1, 1956, preceded by Egypt on May 30, 1956.
Meeting his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on September 22, the two leaders jointly announced the establishment of a China-Syria strategic partnership. Xi Jinping said that over the 67 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the China-Syria relationship has stood the test of changes in the international situation, and their friendship has grown stronger over time, and went on to note that the establishment of the strategic partnership will be an important milestone in the history of bilateral ties.
Xi emphasised that China will continue to work with Syria to firmly support each other on issues concerning the two sides’ respective core interests and major concerns, safeguard the common interests of both countries and other developing countries, and uphold international fairness and justice.
China supports Syria in opposing foreign interference, rejecting unilateralism and bullying, and safeguarding national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, he said.
Assad said that in international affairs, China has always aligned itself with international fairness and justice, and upheld international law and humanitarianism, playing an important and constructive role.
The Syrian side thanks the Chinese government for its invaluable support to the Syrian people, firmly opposes any act of interference in China’s internal affairs and is willing to be China’s long-term and staunch friend and partner.
In the joint statement announcing their establishment of a strategic partnership, Syria affirmed its adherence to the one-China principle and expressed support for China’s positions with regard to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang affairs.
In turn: “China firmly supports Syria in safeguarding national independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, supports the Syrian people in following a development path suited to its national conditions, supports the policies and measures adopted by the Syrian government aimed at safeguarding national security, stability and development, opposes interference by external forces in Syria’s internal affairs and undermining of Syria’s security and stability, opposes the illegal military presence in Syria, the launching of illegal military operations and the illegal plundering of Syria’s natural resources, and urges relevant countries to immediately lift all illegal unilateral sanctions against Syria.”
The two sides expressed willingness to deepen exchanges and cooperation between political parties, parliaments and local governments of the two countries and to strengthen the exchange of experience in governance. They will also strengthen friendly cooperation in various fields, such as economy and trade, agriculture, culture, youth work and journalism. China will continue to provide assistance to Syria within its capacity to support it in its reconstruction and restoration. The Syrian side thanks China for its political support and selfless help, as well as for speaking out for Syria at the UN Security Council. The two countries agreed to continue to strengthen counterterrorism and security cooperation and to work together to combat terrorism.
China supports and welcomes Syria’s return to the League of Arab States, supports Syria in improving its relations with other Arab countries, and supports Arab countries in the region, including Syria, in unity and self-strengthening.
China and Syria will strengthen coordination and cooperation in regional and international affairs, jointly adhere to true multilateralism, defend the international system with the United Nations at its core, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, resolutely oppose all forms of hegemonism and power politics, including the imposition of illegal unilateral sanctions and restrictive measures against other countries, and promote the building of a new type of international relations, and work together to build a community with a shared future for humanity.
From Hangzhou, President Assad and his party continued to Beijing, where they met with Premier Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
Premier Li said that China and Syria have shared a time-honoured friendship and are true friends who stand together through thick and thin.
He added that China will continue to firmly support Syria in safeguarding its national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, in following a development path suited to its national conditions, and firmly opposes external interference in Syria’s internal affairs.
China welcomes Syria’s participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, will continue to support Syria’s reconstruction, recovery, and development, and is willing to expand bilateral economic and trade exchanges with Syria, and strengthen people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.
The Chinese Premier told President Assad: “Friendship is a tree whose roots are loyalty and whose branches are kindness. You, Your Excellency, are an old and dear friend of the people of China.”
President Assad thanked the Chinese government for providing support to Syria in its war against terrorism and in dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake that hit the country last February.
He pointed out that friendship and trust between Syria and China are based on a similar history and fixed principles, and these principles are the same ones from which we can move towards the future.
Meeting Zhao Leji, President Assad said that the transition from the old world, which depends on force, to the new world, which is based on morals, must start from the role of China, which follows an ethical policy and development and presents initiatives to the whole world.
He said that China stood by Syria politically, based on the Chinese policy that rejects interference in the internal affairs of countries, respects the policies of countries, and rejects terrorism and added that China also supported Syria on the economic and humanitarian fronts, helping the Syrian people to mitigate the effects of the siege.
For his part, Zhao Leji said that: “Syria and China are working together and will continue to exchange support regarding the core interests of both sides in order to strengthen friendship between the two countries and enhance understanding between the two peoples.”
He added that: “China will continue to be on the right side of history to promote development for all humanity.”
The following reports were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency, the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). The text of the joint statement was machine translated from Chinese and lightly edited by us.
Xi, Assad jointly announce China-Syria strategic partnership
HANGZHOU, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday jointly announced the establishment of a China-Syria strategic partnership.
The two presidents met in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, ahead of the opening of the 19th Asian Games scheduled for Saturday.
Syria was one of the first Arab countries that established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, and was one of the countries that co-sponsored the resolution to restore the lawful seat of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations, Xi said.
Over the 67 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the China-Syria relationship has stood the test of changes in the international situation, and their friendship has grown stronger over time, he said.
Xi noted that the establishment of the strategic partnership will be an important milestone in the history of bilateral ties.
China is willing to work with Syria to enrich their relationship and continuously advance the China-Syria strategic partnership, Xi said.
Xi emphasized that China will continue to work with Syria to firmly support each other on issues concerning the two sides’ respective core interests and major concerns, safeguard the common interests of both countries and other developing countries, and uphold international fairness and justice.
China supports Syria in opposing foreign interference, rejecting unilateralism and bullying, and safeguarding national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, he said.
China supports Syria in conducting reconstruction, enhancing counter-terrorism capacity building, and promoting a political settlement of the Syrian issue following the “Syrian-led, Syrian-owned” principle, Xi said.
China also supports Syria in improving its relations with other Arab countries and playing a greater role in international and regional affairs, he added.
China is willing to strengthen Belt and Road cooperation with Syria, increase the import of high-quality agricultural products from Syria, and jointly implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative to make active contributions to regional and global peace and development.
Assad said that in international affairs, China has always aligned itself with international fairness and justice, and upheld international law and humanitarianism, playing an important and constructive role.
Syria highly appreciates and firmly supports the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, and will actively participate in them, Assad added.
The Syrian side thanks the Chinese government for its invaluable support to the Syrian people, firmly opposes any act of interference in China’s internal affairs, and is willing to be China’s long-term and staunch friend and partner, he said.
Assad said Syria will take the establishment of the Syria-China strategic partnership as an opportunity to strengthen bilateral friendly cooperation and step up their communication and coordination in international and regional affairs.
After the talks, the two heads of state witnessed the signing of bilateral cooperation documents in areas including Belt and Road cooperation, and economic and technological cooperation.
The two sides issued a joint statement on the establishment of the strategic partnership.
Senior Chinese leaders including Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Wang Yi and Shen Yiqin attended the activities.
Joint Statement of the People’s Republic of China and the Syrian Arab Republic on the Establishment of Strategic Partnership
(Chinese Foreign Ministry) — At the invitation of President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China, President Bashar al-Assad of the Syrian Arab Republic visited China from September 21-26, 2023 to attend the opening ceremony of the 26th Asian Games. The two heads of state met in a cordial and friendly atmosphere, exchanged in-depth views on bilateral relations between China and Syria and international and regional issues of common concern, and reached broad consensus.
The two heads of state spoke highly of the traditional friendship between China and Syria, unanimously agreed that China and Syria are friends of faith and righteousness and adversity and agreed to establish a strategic partnership between China and Syria to comprehensively promote friendly cooperation in various fields and better benefit the two peoples.
The two sides will continue to firmly support each other on issues involving each other’s core interests and major concerns. The Syrian side firmly adheres to the one-China principle, recognises that the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, supports China in safeguarding national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, resolutely opposes interference by any force in China’s internal affairs, and supports all efforts made by the Chinese government to achieve national reunification; Firmly supports China’s position on Hong Kong-related issues, supports China’s efforts to safeguard national security under the framework of “one country, two systems”, firmly believes that Hong Kong affairs are purely China’s internal affairs, and strongly condemns the illegal acts of external forces interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs; Syria firmly supports China’s counter-terrorism and de-radicalisation efforts, and resolutely opposes interference in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of Xinjiang-related issues.
China firmly supports Syria in safeguarding national independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, supports the Syrian people in following a development path suited to its national conditions, supports the policies and measures adopted by the Syrian government aimed at safeguarding national security, stability and development, opposes interference by external forces in Syria’s internal affairs and undermining of Syria’s security and stability, opposes the illegal military presence in Syria, the launching of illegal military operations and the illegal plundering of Syria’s natural resources, and urges relevant countries to immediately lift all illegal unilateral sanctions against Syria.
The Syrian side highly values and actively supports the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilisation Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China. The two sides will carry out active cooperation, implement the above-mentioned initiatives, work together to promote high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road, and jointly promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.
The two sides are willing to deepen exchanges and cooperation between political parties, parliaments and local governments of the two countries and strengthen the exchange of experience in governance. The two sides will strengthen friendly cooperation in various fields such as economy and trade, agriculture, culture, youth and journalism. China will continue to provide assistance to Syria within its capacity to support Syria in its reconstruction and restoration. The Syrian side thanks China for its political support and selfless help, as well as for speaking out for Syria at the UN Security Council. The two sides agreed to continue to strengthen counterterrorism and security cooperation and work together to combat terrorism.
China supports and welcomes Syria’s return to the League of Arab States, supports Syria in improving its relations with other Arab countries, and supports Arab countries in the region, including Syria, in unity and self-strengthening. The Syrian side highly appreciates China’s diplomatic efforts to promote the restoration of diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and thanks China for its positive contributions to promoting the settlement of hotspot issues in the Middle East and maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East.
The two sides spoke highly of the important role played by the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum mechanism in promoting China-Arab collective cooperation, and stressed that they will actively cooperate to promote the implementation of the outcomes of the first China-Arab States Summit, carry forward the spirit of China-Arab friendship, and work together to build a China-Arab community with a shared future for the new era.
The two sides support the promotion of the common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom for all humanity, respect the independent choice of development paths and social systems suited to their national conditions by the people of all countries, and resolutely oppose politicisation and instrumentalisation of human rights issues, and resolutely oppose interference by any country in the internal affairs of other countries under the pretext of democracy and human rights. The two sides will strengthen coordination and cooperation in regional and international affairs, jointly adhere to true multilateralism, defend the international system with the United Nations at its core, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, resolutely oppose all forms of hegemonism and power politics, including the imposition of illegal unilateral sanctions and restrictive measures against other countries, and promote the building of a new type of international relations, and work together to build a community with a shared future for humanity.
Chinese premier meets Syrian president in Beijing
BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Beijing on Monday.
The Syrian president came to China to attend the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, capital city of east China’s Zhejiang Province.
Li said that China and Syria have shared a time-honored friendship and are true friends who stand together through thick and thin.
The two heads of state jointly announced the establishment of the China-Syria strategic partnership in Hangzhou, drawing a new blueprint for the development of the bilateral relations, Li said.
The premier said China is ready to work with Syria to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, push for new achievements in bilateral cooperation and bring more benefits to the two peoples.
Li said China will continue to firmly support Syria in safeguarding its national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, follow a development path suited to its national conditions, and firmly oppose external interference in Syria’s internal affairs.
China welcomes Syria’s participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, will continue to support Syria’s reconstruction, recovery and development, and is willing to expand bilateral economic and trade exchanges with Syria, and strengthen people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, Li added.
Noting that China is willing to strengthen coordination with Syria to effectively combat terrorism, Li called for further solidarity and cooperation to resist risks and oppose hegemony, safeguard international fairness and justice, and better safeguard the common interests of the two countries and other developing countries.
Assad expressed appreciation for China’s assistance in supporting Syria’s economic and social development, alleviating the humanitarian crisis and providing earthquake relief.
China is playing an important role in international affairs, the president said, adding that Syria is willing to work with China to implement the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative.
Syria stands ready to further deepen cooperation with China in economic, cultural and other fields, and to safeguard the common interests of the two sides, Assad added.
President al-Assad meets Li Qiang: Heading east is a political, cultural and economic guarantee for Syria
Beijing, SANA– President Bashar al-Assad affirmed that Syria today is more committed to heading east because it is the political, cultural and economic guarantee for it, and that is a principle on which the Syrian politics is based.
“I congratulate you on the wonderful organization of opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games, and I thank you for paying attention to the details of this visit in order to be a successful,” President al-Assad said during his meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang in Beijing on Monday.
President al-Assad described the meeting with the Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Chinese city of Hangzhou as very successful as the announcement of the establishment of strategic partnership relations between both countries was the most important results of this meeting.
President al-Assad thanked the Chinese government for providing support to Syria in its war against terrorism and in dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake hit the country last February.
President al-Assad underlined that China plays a major role on the international level in achieving international balance in the world.
President al-Assad pointed out that friendship and trust between Syria and China is based on a similar history and fixed principles, and these principles are the same from which we can move towards the future.
President al-Assad considered that the relationship between the two countries could gain further strength through the three initiatives proposed by Chinses President to develop cooperation in the economic and cultural fields and create joint investment projects within the Belt and Road Initiative.
His Excellency noted that most countries in the world are looking forward to the Chinese yuan becoming a global currency to get rid of the dollar has become the Western weapon against the countries of the world.
In turn, the Chinese Prime Minister said that the facts have shown that Syria and China are friends, and that today’s world lacks security and stability.
At this crucial stage, we need more coordination and cooperation to preserve the common interest of China and Syria,” he said.
He reiterated the continued support for Syria to achieve common development between the two countries.
Li Qiang said “Development in Syria faces sanctions and siege, and therefore China is keen to take the opportunity to announce the establishment of strategic relations to provide support to Syria and transform Syria’s geographical advantages into development opportunities.”
He reiterated support for Damascus in rebuilding and consolidating stability, and assured that China welcomes Syria as a partner in the Belt and Road Initiative.
“Friendship is a tree whose roots are loyalty and whose branches are kindness. “You, your excellency, are an old and dear friend of the people of China,” the Chinese Prime Minister addressed President al-Assad.
President al-Assad meets Zhao Leji: China’s initiatives represent hope and open doors to a new world
Beijing, SANA– President Bashar al-Assad met Monday with Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, Zhao Leji in the Chinese capital of Beijing.
President al-Assad said that the transition from the old world, which depends on force, to the new world, which based on morals, must start from the role of China, which follows an ethical policy and development and presents initiatives to the whole world.
His Excellency noted that the initiatives proposed by the Chinese President Xi Jinping represent hope and open doors to a new world.
President al-Assad indicated that China stood by Syria politically, based on the Chinese policy that rejects interference in the internal affairs of countries, respects the policies of countries, and rejects terrorism.
President al-Assad added that China also supported Syria on the economic and humanitarian side by helping the Syrian people to mitigate the effects of the siege.
President al-Assad said “Syria looks forward to China’s role in the present and future, and this role seeks to achieve common benefit for the people rather than the gains at the expense of others.”
President al-Assad congratulated China for its success in concluding the Saudi-Iranian agreement, and considered that this success is a proof that China today constitutes a civilized, political and moral world power.
For his part, Zhao Leji stressed that the communication between legislative institutions is important to support the development of bilateral relations.
He said “Syria and China are working together and will continue to exchange support regarding the core interests of both sides in order to strengthen friendship between the two countries and enhance understanding between the two peoples.”
He said “China will continue to be on the right side of history to promote development for all humanity.”
thanks for this!, good to see China stand by Syria. here’s hoping its not to maintain Syria’s ongoing resistance to Western imperialism which has launched economic terrorism on Syria and still is trying to balkanize it with Turkey doing the dirty work, ongoing Western support for Kurdish ethnonationalists, and ISrael bombing Syria constantly.
I am from Vancouver,Canada and i wanted to say that China is doing good work in the Middle East. Iran,Syria and Palestine are in the News a lot because of Aggression from Israel which was created by Britain,USA and the UN to attack any country that the USA don’t like. That is a crime that effects all countries in that area of the world.
China is bringing the Arab countries together and that will help bring peace and rebuild infrastructure and buildings destroyed in Syria and in Palestine, Homes demolished by Israel, Olive Trees destroyed, Water cut of to Palestinians, Genocide of Palestinians.I would need a lot more space to list all of the Atrocities against Palestinians by Israeli Forces. China is helping to solve these problems in the Middle East.