China has pledged its support to the Kingdom in its fight against armed infiltrators along the border with Yemen, said Yang Hong Lin, Chinese Ambassador to the Kingdom, on Tuesday. The ambassador was speaking during a press conference in Riyadh before the scheduled three-day visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi to Riyadh from Jan. 12. The minister – who traditionally begins the year with a trip to Africa – will visit Saudi Arabia before heading home to China, said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu. Yang's visit has come at the invitation of his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud Al-Faisal. The Kingdom had the right to secure its border with Yemen, the ambassador said. China will be ready to work with the Kingdom and other Arab nations to establish peace and boost development in Yemen, he said. About the visit of the Chinese foreign minister to the Kingdom, Ambassador Yang said that there would be no pacts to sign. However, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming will hold talks with the Saudi side to boost energy and business relations, the ambassador said. The ambassador expressed his appreciation for the donation of $5 million from King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to the Chinese Muslim Association in his 2006 visit. China wants to deepen ties of civilized dialogue with the Kingdom as it stands as a source of Islamic civilization, the ambassador said, noting close cultural and education ties between the two countries. Sino-Saudi relations are of strategic importance for both countries, particularly after the exchange of visits by King Abdullah to China in 2006 and the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to the Kingdom, Ambassador Yang said. He added that the total volume of bilateral trade reached $41.8 billion in 2008 with Saudi crude oil supplies to China touching 40 million tons in 2009. There are around 88 Chinese enterprises operating in the Kingdom and the total amount involved in these projects has surpassed $18 billion, he said. The Chinese enterprises usually bring their workforce from China, he added. About 20,000 Chinese are currently working in Chinese companies operating in Saudi Arabia. The ambassador said the Chinese economy is booming and “this is the reason you don't see Chinese workers in the Saudi labor market. Because of the country's booming economy, Chinese workers prefer to work in China”. He said in the education sector, the two sides are improving their ties gradually. Dr. Khalid Al-Anqari, Minister of Higher Education, during his recent visit to China, signed 24 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with a number of Chinese institutions thus enhancing cooperation in the field of education. Over 200 Chinese students are currently studying at various Saudi universities and the number is increasing gradually every year, Ambassador Yang said. China has a Muslim population of over 20 million people and among the 35,000 mosques in the country some were built with aid from Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Development Bank. “The first mosque that was built outside the Arabian Peninsula was in China,” Ambassador Yang said.
