Palestine: Abbas begins state visit to China

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas began a four-day state visit to China on Tuesday. This is his fifth official trip to the country, said the spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry in Beijing.

Abbas is in China at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, explained Hua Chunying. He is the first Arab state leader to be hosted by Xi this year, as China and Palestine mark 35 years of diplomatic relations. Beijing has described Abbas as “an old and good friend of the Chinese people.”

Xi last met Abbas in Riyadh in December at the first China-Gulf Council Cooperation summit, where he said that the China-Palestine friendship is “deeply cherished by their people.”

Last week, Wang Wenbin, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters: “The Palestinian question is at the heart of the Middle East issue and matters to the region’s peace and stability and global equity and justice. China has all along firmly supported the Palestinian people’s just cause of restoring their legitimate national rights.”

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