On the afternoon of August 14, 2009, Chinese President Hu Jintao met with visiting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), at the Great Hall of the People. Both sides held friendly talks.
During the meeting, Hu said China and the UAE have enjoyed political trust, mutual support and reciprocal trade cooperation with complementary advantages since they forged diplomatic ties 25 years ago. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is now China's second largest trading partner and important supplier of energy resources in the Arab world. The two countries have maintained unique and dynamic humanities exchanges and have also conducted consultations on international and regional issues. "We appreciate the UAE government for its adherence to the one-China policy, as well as its support on the Taiwan issue and the issues concerning Tibet and Xinjiang," Hu said.
The president said the two countries were facing new opportunities for furthering relations and enjoying good prospect for development. China would work with the UAE to comprehensively enhance bilateral friendly cooperation to benefit the two countries and peoples.
When talking about the relations between China and the Islamic countries. Hu said that both sides have long maintained mutual respect and trust and have shown understanding and support to each other on issues concerning the major concerns and core interests of the other side. China attaches great importance to its friendly cooperative relations with Islamic countries and would like to promote dialogues and exchanges with different civilizations on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence. China would also like to cement friendship and cooperation with the Islamic countries, he added.
Mohammed first conveyed the cordial greeting from President Khalifa to President Hu Jintao. Mohammed said that the two peoples have maintained friendly relations with a firm basis of cooperation between both sides. The UAE holds sincere wish for furthering bilateral ties. The UAE hopes to view ties with China from a new perspective and establish strategic cooperative relations with China in trade, oil and petrochemical fields, so as to push bilateral ties to a new level. Mohammed said the July 5 riot in Xinjiang was China's internal affairs, and his country supported the Chinese government's efforts to safeguard national unity, security and stability.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Guangya was present at the meeting.