Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, stressed on Friday that the historic relations between Arab countries and China are based on mutual respect, friendship and cooperation in several fields.  On behalf of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince Mohammed chaired the Arab-Chinese Cooperation and Development summit in Riyadh. The event was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Arab leaders and heads of state.  Crown Prince Mohammed continued: “The Arab region looks with great interest on the achievements reached by China, notably in development and rapid technological advancement, that have transformed it into one of the leading global economies.:  He added that the summit paves the way for “elevating relations between our countries and bolstering the partnership in fields of mutual interest.”  “In order to reach the future aspired to by our peoples and for the coming generations to live in desired peace, we must boost cooperation in trade, investment and finance between Arab countries and China,” he went on to say.  He also underscored the need to develop political coordination on the international arena and over regional and international issues of interest.  Moreover, he highlighted Saudi Arabia’s efforts in boosting international cooperation to confront global challenges to achieve a promising future for peoples and coming generations.  Crown Prince Mohammed noted the challenge of climate change, underlining the need to reach more sustainable and comprehensive solutions to it while maintaining the levels of global economic growth.  In addition, he underscored the importance of intensifying cooperation and collective work given the growing severity of international challenges, including food security and energy security,  He hailed China for proposing several valuable initiatives, including the Group of Friends of Global Development Initiative that he said aligns with several of Saudi Arabia’s priorities in terms of supporting sustainable development and bolstering food security.  He remarked that Saudi Arabia will continue to support all efforts aimed at bolstering regional security and stability. It will continue to back political solutions and dialogue to resolve regional and international conflicts.  Crown Prince Mohammed stressed the need to reach a fair and lasting solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in line with international resolutions and the 2002 Arab peace initiative, praising China’s support to the two-state solution and the initiative.  He said Saudi Arabia will continue to support efforts to reach a political comprehensive solution to the crisis in Yemen in line with the three references. He hailed China’s backing of the Saudi initiatives on Yemen.  He stressed the importance of “maintaining Arab-Chinese cooperation to serve common goals and the aspirations of our people.”