His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik held an expanded official talks session with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China this morning at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The talks took place as part of His Majesty’s state visit to the People’s Republic of China.

The meeting discussed areas of existing cooperation between the two countries and ways to enhance them, particularly in technology and innovation, artificial intelligence, energy, renewable energy, manufacturing industries, logistics, digital trade, food security and strengthening integration between economic zones and ports.

On this occasion, the Chinese President delivered a speech welcoming His Majesty the Sultan and his accompanying delegation. He expressed his appreciation for the visit and commended its importance in consolidating bilateral relations and deepening the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the two countries. He noted that the visit would strengthen the existing partnership and open up broader avenues for joint cooperation.

His Majesty also delivered the following speech on this occasion:

“Your Excellency President Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, our friendly country,

It gives us great pleasure to be in your ancient and distinguished country, the friendly People’s Republic of China, which has long served as a civilisational and human bridge between East and West and a centre of cultural enlightenment and intellectual diversity. We express our profound appreciation for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to us, as well as for the authenticity of the friendly Chinese people and the deep friendship and mutual respect between our two countries and peoples.

We take this opportunity to reaffirm the depth of the historic relations between the friendly People’s Republic of China and Oman. We also reaffirm our commitment and direct support for the development of these relations, which have witnessed rapid growth in economic, commercial and investment fields over the past period. A number of ministers concerned with these areas have accompanied me on this visit to explore further opportunities for cooperation between our two countries. We also view this visit as a new starting point for Omani Chinese relations.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries, they have witnessed continuous positive development. Your country has become Oman’s leading trading partner. Over the past few years, direct investments by Chinese companies in our country, in partnership with the Oman Investment Authority, have exceeded 33 billion Chinese yuan. Areas of partnership have expanded to include energy, industry, infrastructure, logistics and advanced technologies.

We see this development as a qualitative transformation in the nature of economic relations between our two countries. It has established a more diversified and deeper partnership based on the exchange of expertise, joint investment, building productive capacities and developing knowledge and technology-based industries.

We attach particular importance to these relations and hope to increase trade volume and encourage the establishment of projects through joint investment funds in several strategic sectors, particularly renewable energy, artificial intelligence, digital technologies, space, defence industries and cooperation between our educational and training institutions. This will help develop research and innovation in technology, healthcare, food security and other projects. We also reaffirm the importance of continuing cultural cooperation to enrich knowledge and promote civilisational exchange among peoples.

We also attach particular importance to cooperation between investment and financial institutions and the opportunities it offers to explore and develop diverse, vital and strategic partnerships.

Oman is open to entering into a bilateral preferential trade and investment agreement with the People’s Republic of China. We are confident that such an agreement will open new avenues for trade and investment, contribute to liberalising and enhancing commercial and investment exchanges between the two countries and create broader prospects for mutual benefits and interests.

Your Excellency the President,

We admire your governance model, which has transformed your country into a major global economic power whose impact extends beyond China’s borders and has contributed to the advancement of the economies of many friendly countries. We share your vision that people are at the heart of economic development and its ultimate objective. Your economic approach, which has not been mixed with political objectives or ambitions for dominance, is clear to us and commands our respect and appreciation.

Geography and maritime routes have always been, and remain, factors that have brought Oman and China closer. The geographical location of Oman’s ports today gives the country significant advantages in connecting global markets and supply chains through its ports, economic and industrial zones and the ongoing development of its infrastructure and logistics capabilities.

Accordingly, we view your Belt and Road Initiative and Oman’s Vision 2040 as two frameworks that offer extensive opportunities to integrate the development priorities of our two countries, particularly in advanced industries, renewable energy, green hydrogen, modern technologies, the digital economy and logistics services.

The rapid transformations taking place around the world, together with changes in lifestyles and challenges related to climate change, energy security, food and health security and the stability of supply chains, all underscore the importance of partnerships founded on trust, mutual dependence and interconnected interests.

We believe that development and stability are inseparable and that the prosperity of peoples requires an environment characterised by security and peace, respect for state sovereignty and international law, the peaceful resolution of disputes and the allocation of resources towards construction and development. While we value your leadership role in this regard, we call for continued coordination with the People’s Republic of China in a manner that serves our shared interests and contributes to strengthening international security, stability and cooperation. We also express our great appreciation for China’s positions on key issues affecting our region.

We further reaffirm Oman’s steadfast position on the One China principle and our support for the unity and sovereignty of Chinese territory. This firm position in our foreign policy reflects the mutual respect and political trust that have characterised our bilateral relations for decades.

Your Excellency the President,

If the ancient maritime Silk Roads connected the ports and peoples of our two countries, our ambition today is to extend bridges of cooperation between our institutions, economies and research and innovation centres, and to move our partnership from connectivity through trade routes to integration in shaping the future.

We renew our sincere appreciation and profound gratitude for your gracious invitation. We look forward to continuing to work with you to consolidate our partnership and friendship in a manner that achieves prosperity and well-being for our peoples and contributes to strengthening peace, stability and prosperity. We extend our sincere wishes to the friendly Chinese people for continued progress and prosperity.”

The session was attended from Oman by the official delegation accompanying His Majesty. From China, attendees included Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs and Minister of Foreign Affairs; Zheng Shanjie, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission; Liu Luhua, Secretary to the President; Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce; Liu Jian, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Oman; and other officials.