Abu Dhabi: The GCC countries support choices of the people in fraternal countries, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, said on Monday, calling for political transitions in the region to be managed in such a way that they safeguarded societies against instability and insecurity.
"The GCC launched several initiatives to end the Yemeni crisis, ease transition of power and safeguard stability in Yemen," Shaikh Abdullah told a Sino-GCC meeting in Abu Dhabi.
Stressing that efforts would continue to achieve a peaceful transition in Yemen, Shaikh Abdullah said the GCC had also contributed positively to support and protect the Libyan people. "We still hope that Libya will overcome its crisis and achieve its people's aspirations to build a stable and safe country."
Shaikh Abdullah added that the GCC countries had played an important role in helping Bahrain end unrest it faced, through the defence accords binding countries of the bloc. "We also supported Bahrain and Oman through a development programme, under which each country will receive $10 billion [Dh36.7 billion] in assistance over the next 10 years."
A statement issued after a second round of strategic dialogue between the two sides said China fully backs all sovereign decisions taken by the Gulf Cooperation (GCC) countries, which aim at safeguarding stability and security in the region to ensure harmony and peace.
"China and GCC countries agree that safeguarding peace and stability in the Middle East and the Gulf region is in line with common interests of countries of the region and the international community," said the statement.
The two sides said they back actions taken by the Gulf countries to protect their security and stability.
Strategic ties
Praising Sino-GCC talks as excellent, Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi said his country values the strategic relations and cooperation with Gulf allies.
Shaikh Abdullah, who chaired the meeting, said GCC-China trade had risen 10-fold to $100 billion in a decade. He expressed hope that the trade volume between the two sides would witness similar growth in the coming decade.
Yang is scheduled to pay official visits to Egypt, Serbia, Switzerland and Russia from May 1 to 7, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular news briefing.
China and the GCC inaugurated the first round of their strategic dialogue in June 2010 in Beijing. They agreed the next round of the dialogue will be held in Beijing next year.
"China hopes this round of dialogue can deepen political trust, expand reciprocal cooperation, and benefit the peoples of both sides," said Hong.
The GCC has been playing a significant role in promoting economic development, peace and stability in the Gulf region, Hong said. "GCC member countries have become China's most important partners in terms of cooperation on energy and trade."
The China-GCC strategic dialogue is one of several collective dialogue mechanisms between China and its partners in the Gulf region and is conducive to advancing China-GCC relations, said Hong.
