King Abdullah Bin Hussein said Monday that Jordan is keen on developing close ties with China and that the bilateral ties and Mideast situation will be high on the agenda of his upcoming visit to Beijing.
Abdullah said China is a country with international weight and that his visit to Beijing, due on Thursday, marks a rare opportunity for a meeting with Chinese President Jiang Zemin to exchange views on bilateral ties and the Mideast situation.
China, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, could join efforts with the world community, the United States, Russia, the European Union (EU) in particular, to break the circle of violence between Israel and the Palestinians and create a favorable ambience to revive the Mideast peace process, he said.
Abdullah added that he will also discuss the Iraq issue with Chinese leaders and expressed hope that China could play a role in ending the stalemate between Iraq and the U.N. as well as the U.S. to remove the aftermath of the 1990 Gulf crisis, triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
Abdullah expressed satisfaction in relations with China
He voiced satisfaction with the current status of Jordan's relations with China, saying that the two countries have maintained close cooperation in the political, cultural and economic fields both on the government and people-to-people levels.
Abdullah said that China achieved a miracle in developing the economy during the past 20 years and that its experiences of economic development could serve as a model for other developing countries to improve economic performance and to raise the people'sliving standards.
Jordan also hopes to learn from China's experiences in economic development, he added.
He said that he will meet with leaders of the Chinese business community during his visit to China, and brief them on investment opportunities in Jordan.
"I hope that Chinese businessmen will share the development opportunities with Jordan," the king said.
Jordan wants to attract more Chinese investments, particularly after Amman signed a free trade pact with the U.S., an association agreement with the EU and free trade agreements with other Arab countries in 2001, Abdullah said.
He said that China will further speed up its economic development after its entry into the World Trade Organization and thanks to its efforts to promote trade relations with the U.S., the EU and Arab countries.
Abdullah is also expected to visit Shanghai and Hong Kong during his five-day trip in China.
King Abdullah II Bin Al-Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan will pay a state visit to China from January 17 to 21, 2002 at the invitation of President Jiang Zemin,the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Friday.
During the visit, the King will exchange views with President Jiang and other Chinese leaders on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of common interest, the announcement said.
(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2002)
