Jeddah, Rajab 12, 1436, May 1, 2015, SPA -- The Organization of International Cooperation (OIC) and the Peoples' Republic of China agreed on the importance of developing strategic relations between the two sides in various political, economic and cultural fields. This came up during an official visit to China by a high-level Delegation of the Organization, General Secretariat headed by the Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs Ambassador Abdullah Ibn Abdul Rahman Alim from 18 to 26 April 2015. Ambassador Alim explained that the visit was the first round of political consultations between the two sides, involving several political meetings and consultations with Chinese senior officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and meetings with Islamic leaders in Beijing and Muslim minority areas. He pointed out that the visit took place under the agreement concluded between the OIC and the Peoples' Republic of China to hold bilateral political consultations, as an expression of will on both sides to deepen mutual thrust and improve their relations. Ambassador Alim stated that the consultations addressed the issue of dialogue of civilizations, in view of the importance accorded inter-civilizational and inter-religious dialogue by the OIC since such a dialogue will help to entrench the values of peace and tolerance, and remove the confusion surrounding certain erroneous perceptions. --More 13:18 LOCAL TIME 10:18 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w