The chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, called for deepening friendly cooperation, safeguarding common interests, and promoting the new development of the bilateral strategic partnership, Xinhua reported.

Zhao emphasized China’s concept of building a community with a shared future for humanity and reaffirmed China’s willingness to work with the Syrian People’s Assembly to enhance exchanges at all levels.

The Syrian head of State, in turn, stressed that China’s development is equivalent to the growth of the force for justice and expressed his hope that this country “will play an even greater role in promoting world peace, justice, and progress.”

Al-Assad arrived in China on September 21 and participated in the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China’s eastern Zhejiang province.

He has already met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, with whom he agreed to establish a strategic partnership between the two countries.

They also signed a bilateral economic cooperation agreement, a memorandum of understanding on exchanges and cooperation in economic development, and another on the cooperation plan within the Belt and Road Initiative.

It is Al-Assad’s first visit to China since the outbreak of his country’s civil war more than 12 years ago.

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