Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (R) meets with Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa before the ministerial meeting of the International Compact with Iraq (ICI) in the Egyptian Red Sea resort Sharm El-Sheikh, May 3, 2007. The ICI meeting kicked off on Thursday in Sharm El-Sheikh with the attendance of representatives from some 60 nations and 12 regional and international organizations. (Xinhua Photo/Lin Yiguang) Photo Gallery>>>

    SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa on Thursday at this Red Sea resort and the two discussed various issues of common interest.

    At the meeting held on the sidelines of a conference of the International Compact with Iraq (ICI), Yang told Moussa that the Chinese and the Arab people are good friends, good partners and good brothers.

    "China attaches importance to the relations with the Arab nations, and China is willing to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with the Arab world through means like the Sino-Arab Cooperation Forum," Yang said.

    Moussa said the development of Sino-Arab relations is very good and the Arab world is willing to deepen friendly cooperation with China.

    He said Arab nations are willing to push forward with the Arab Peace Initiative and improve Arab-Israeli relations for peace. While Yang said China supports Arab nations in their efforts to achieve regional peace and stability.

    The Arab Peace Initiative, first approved by the Arab League at its 2002 Beirut summit but refused by Israel, calls for Israel's pullout from Arab land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in return for the normalization of ties with Arab states.

    The ICI was initially launched July 28, 2006, in the hope of creating "a permanent partnership between Iraq and the international community" to help Iraq in its reconstruction efforts and to pursue political, economic and social development over the next five years.

    The one-day ICI meeting gathered senior diplomats from Iraq's six neighbors -- Iran, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait -- plus Bahrain, Egypt, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Conference and the UN.

    Also attending are senior diplomats from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France -- and members of the G-8, including Germany, Canada, Japan and Italy.