“At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, president of the state of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas will pay a state visit to China from June 13 to 16,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Friday.
Another ministry official, Wang Wenbin, told a regular briefing later in the day that Abbas was an “old and good friend of the Chinese people”.
“He is the first Arab head of state received by China this year, fully embodying the high level of China-Palestine good relations, which have traditionally been friendly,” he said, adding that “China has always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights.”
In December last year, President Xi visited Saudi Arabia on an Arab outreach visit that also saw him meet Abbas and pledge to “work for an early, just and durable solution to the Palestinian issue”.
Beijing has positioned itself as a mediator in the Middle East, a region where the United States has, for decades, been the main powerbroker, Al Jazeera reported.