BEIJING: A ranking Chinese official on Friday lauded the State of Kuwait's efforts for reinforcing global security and peace. The Kuwaiti embassy in Beijing said in a statement that the deputy foreign affairs minister at the central committee of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, Zhou Roy, lauded Kuwait's role at this level at the global and regional levels during a meeting with the State of Kuwait's Ambassador to China Samih Johar Hayat, held at the ruling party's headquarters in Beijing. The statement quoted the minister as affirming necessity to bolster the Kuwaiti-Chinese relations in various sectors.

Deputy foreign affairs minister Zhou Roy exchanges gifts with Kuwait's ambassador to China Samih Johar Hayat.

Kuwait, as an active state member in the GCC, has been playing a positive role for bolstering the collective cooperation between the council and China, he added, noting its role in launching the free trade negotiations between the two sides, noting Beijing's aspiration to ink a deal at this level soon. There is substantial harmony between the 2035 Kuwaiti development strategy and China's "silk road" initiative, he elaborated.

For his part, Ambassador Hayat said that his talks with the Chinese official dealt with the deep partnership between the two friendly countries in diverse realms, adding that the discussions touched on regional and international affairs. China and Kuwait share great consensus toward a lot of regional and international issues and the two have been coordinating stances toward these topics. - KUNA