Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao (L front) and Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz (R front) walk into the venue of their meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 10, 2009. [Rao Aimin/Xinhua]

Hu Jintao also said the Chinese government and people appreciate Saudi Arabia's support for the relief efforts following the Wenchuan earthquake last year and for the Beijing Olympic Games.

The Saudi King said the two countries' friendly ties are in line with the interests of the two countries and Saudi Arabia is keen to strengthen bilateral relations. He said Saudi Arabia is willing to expand cooperation with China in trade and various other fields and exchange views on international issues of common concerns. He said the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf has had very good cooperation with China and all its member states are willing to promote ties with China.

Hu Jintao stressed that faced with the impact of the global financial crisis, the two countries should expand trade and investment and maintain close coordination on the reform of international financial systems. The King said Saudi Arabia looks forward to working with China to achieve positive results at the forthcoming London G-20 Summit.

China and Saudi Arabia established diplomatic ties in 1990. Saudi Arabia is now China's largest trading partner in West Asia and North Africa. In 2008, two-way trade between the two countries amounted to 41.8 billion U.S. dollars.

From Riyadh, Hu will travel on to Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius.

(CCTV February 11, 2009)