Xi Jinping receives dictator Bashar al-Assad: “China-Syria strategic partnership will be a milestone in history”

Chinese leader Xi Jinping He received his Syrian counterpart this Friday Bashar al-AssadThirst for investments in the reconstruction of his country, and declared A new “strategic” relationship between Beijing and Damascus.

Assad, in power since 2000, is making his first official visit to China in nearly two decades.

Their aim is twofold: to get financial help to rebuild their country, which has been devastated by a bloody conflict since 2011. Try to rehabilitate the international image of his regime, isolated and accused of atrocities during the war.

Xi welcomed Assad in the Chinese city this Friday Hangzhou (East), where the Syrian will attend the start of the Asian Games on Saturday, according to state media.

“Today we will jointly announce the establishment of the China-Syria Strategic Partnership, which will be an important milestone in the history of our bilateral relations.”Ji told Assad, according to Chinese state channel CCTV.

“Faced with an international situation full of uncertainty and uncertainty, China is willing to continue working with Syria”“The friendship between the two countries has strengthened over time,” Xi added.

China is one of the few countries outside Middle East Dictator Al Assad has visited since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, which has since turned into a regional conflict.

The war killed more than half a million people, displaced millions and destroyed much of the local infrastructure and industry, including the oil sector. Syrian power is also subject to international sanctions.

China is playing an increasingly dominant role in the Middle East, having brokered a diplomatic reconciliation earlier in the year between Iran – an ally of Syria – and historic rivals Saudi Arabia.

Beijing is one of Assad’s allies, and the U.N. It has regularly abstained from voting on anti-Damascus resolutions in the Security Council.

“I thank you and the Chinese government for everything you have done to support the Syrian people at home and in their protests,” al-Assad declared in his meeting with Xi this Friday.

“This visit is very important due to its timing and circumstances, because a multilateral world is being created that will restore balance and stability in the world,” the Syrian president added.

In 2023, the Damascus regime began a rapprochement with several Arab countries isolated by years of war.

This normalization of relations was confirmed in May by the return of Damascus to the Arab League and participation in the Syrian presidential summit. Saudi Arabia.

China, which has been very active in the historically strategic region for the US, is promoting its ambitious plan. New Silk Roads, It involves massive investments in infrastructure to improve trade links between Asia, Europe and Africa.

Syria joined the program in January 2022 and expects to receive significant investments.

(With information from AFP)