The Gulf-Chinese ministerial council convened in New York on Monday on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah chaired the meeting as the Kingdom is the president of the current round of the council. The meeting was attended by Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Other participants included United Arab Emirates Minister of State Khalifa Shaheen al-Marar, Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullatif al-Zayani, Oman’s permanent representative to the UN, Dr. Mohamed al-Hassan, Qatar’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Regional Affairs, Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser al-Mohammed Al Sabah and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf. The gatherers tackled the relations of cooperation and friendship that bind the GCC and China on various levels with the aim of serving mutual interests. They also discussed the latest developments related to the negotiations on free trade between the two sides. They expressed their mutual keenness on boosting and developing trade and economic relations between the Gulf and China. The officials also discussed regional security and political developments and international issues of interest. They stressed the importance of maintaining cooperation between the Gulf and China and bolstering opportunities of cooperation to serve common interests.