Minister of Foreign Affairs meets with State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of People’s Republic of China
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani met today with the State Councilor and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Wang Yi, during his official visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain as part of his tour in the region.
During the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs welcomed Mr. Wang Yi and his accompanying delegation, expressing his appreciation for the historical friendship between the two countries. He also underlined the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation and mutual coordination and the importance of developing and enhancing such relations for the common interests of both countries. He also hailed the prominent role played by the Chinese government in strengthening bilateral cooperation with the Kingdom of Bahrain and its efforts to maintaining global security and peace.
For his part, Mr. Wang Yi expressed his pleasure to visit the Kingdom of Bahrain, praising the strength of the historic friendship between Bahrain and China in light of the mutual keenness to enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields, noting the advanced level of bilateral cooperation relations at all levels, wishing the Kingdom of Bahrain further growth and prosperity.
During the meeting, they discussed bilateral cooperation relations and ways to enhance them in various fields that serve the common interests of the two friendly countries and peoples. They also reviewed the opportunities available to develop joint cooperation in the economic, trade, and investment fields, in addition to exchanging views on developments in the region as well as regional and international issues of common concern.
The two sides also discussed cooperation to combat Covid 19. The Minister of Foreign Affairs reviewed with the State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China the successful cooperation between Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and China in Phase III clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccination, in cooperation with the Emirati Group 42, which is based in Abu Dhabi.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs affirmed that Team Bahrain continues its partnership in healthcare with the Emirati “G42” and the Chinese Sinopharm company, pointing out the recent announcement of establishing a new factory in Abu Dhabi to manufacture a Covid-19 vaccine from the Chinese Sinopharm company, within the framework of joint cooperation between Sinopharm and G42. He also said that the Kingdom of Bahrain works closely with the UAE to participate in the next stages of developing and producing the Covid-19 vaccine.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs also underlined that the Kingdom of Bahrain, within its contribution to the scope of international cooperation to combat Covid-19, continues to establish new frameworks with “G42” that would enable the Kingdom of Bahrain to contribute to manufacturing “Sinopharm” vaccine alongside manufacturing and contributing of various Covid-19 vaccinations.
The Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board, Khalid Humaidan, gave a presentation in which he addressed the EDB’s efforts to enhance economic development and the available investment opportunities in the Kingdom. He also stressed that the EDB emphasizes economic diversification in the Kingdom, as well as attracting foreign investments, noting the presence of a number of giant Chinese in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Towards the end of the meeting, in the presence of the two Foreign Ministers, a cultural agreement was signed between the two countries on the mutual establishment of cultural centers and the executive program for the cultural agreement between the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in China.
The agreement and the executive program were signed by the President of BACA, Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa for the Bahraini side and the Ambassador of China to Bahrain, Anwaer for the Chinese side.
This cultural agreement represents a crucial step to enhance the efforts of the two countries to enhance and develop the close friendship between the two sides and would contribute to developing cultural cooperation between the two countries.
The agreement notes that both China and Bahrain will establish a Chinese cultural center in Manama and a Bahraini cultural center in Beijing, with the aim of “fully enhancing mutual understanding between the two peoples, developing exchange and communication at the popular level, developing friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries in the cultural and popular fields”. These centers will organize various cultural activities, such as exhibitions, performances, seminars, lectures, etc., in addition to promoting the language and culture of the two countries and enable the public to access various cultural materials.
In addition to this agreement, the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China will implement an executive program for cooperation between them for the years 2021-2025. The program includes cultural activities such as exhibitions of fine arts, cultural heritage and traditional handicrafts, as well as cooperation in the fields of archeology, excavation, restoration and preservation of documents and manuscripts.
The meeting was attended by the Assistant Foreign Minister, Abdullah bin Faisal bin Jabur Al Doseri, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for International Affairs, Dr. Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Shaikha Rana bint Isa bin Duaij Al Khalifa, the Director of the Afro-Asian Affairs Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Muna Abbas Mahmood Radhi and the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Anwaer, as well as the companying delegation to the Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister.
