Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping wrapped up a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia on Monday and left Dammam for Qatar to continue his five-nation Asia tour.

Saudi Arabia is the third leg of Xi's ongoing trip, which has already taken him to North Korea and Mongolia. Xi will also visit Qatar and Yemen.

During his stay in Saudi Arabia, Xi held talks with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud and Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud in the western Saudi port city of Jeddah, where he also attended and addressed the International Energy Conference on Sunday.

Xi and Crown Prince Sultan signed a joint statement on strengthening cooperative and strategic friendly relations, pledging to further enhance bilateral exchanges and cooperation in such fields as politics, economy, trade, fiscal policy, culture and in regional and international affairs.

The Chinese vice president arrived in Jeddah Saturday morning for an official visit. He flew to the eastern Saudi city of Dammam on Sunday afternoon.

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2008)