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Amid growing global concern over Israel’s war in Gaza, Chinese President Xi Jinping has condemned “enormous suffering” in the Middle East and called for an international peace conference as Arab leaders visit Beijing this week.
“Since last October, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has escalated dramatically, causing great suffering to the people. The war must not continue forever. Justice must not be lost forever,” Xi said on Thursday at the start of a meeting of top Chinese and Arab diplomats, also attended by several regional leaders.
He also reiterated China’s call for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and Beijing’s support for a “broader, authoritative and effective international peace conference.”
Diplomatic Conference in Beijing Israel’s war on Gaza remains an urgent global focus as the Israeli military intensifies its operations in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah and the humanitarian crisis worsens by the day.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and visiting foreign ministers adopted a “joint statement on the Palestinian issue” at a ministerial-level meeting on Thursday, Chinese state media reported on Thursday. A text of the statement was not immediately available.
China, which has sought to strengthen ties across the Middle East in recent years, has aligned itself with the Arab world and the Global South in criticizing Israel and calling for a ceasefire in the nearly eight-month-old conflict.
China’s stance has put it at odds with the United States, long a key power in the region and Israel’s main backer, and Chinese officials have used the conflict to criticize the U.S. This fits with a larger message from Beijing that casts the U.S. as an aggressor with an unjust grip on the current world order.
In his speech, Xi hailed the “shared aspirations for a new era of relations between China and Arab countries” and said ties could become “a model for safeguarding world peace and stability.”
“In this troubled world, peaceful relations are born from mutual respect and lasting security is built on fairness and justice,” said the Chinese leader, who has promoted an alternative global security model to one based on U.S.-backed alliances.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Tunisian President Kais Saied are in China on state visits to coincide with the ministerial meetings.
Delegations from 22 Arab countries attended the event, which took place at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, according to Chinese state media.
“The most pressing call at the meeting was to resolutely support the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate national rights,” Wang told reporters after the rally.
“The joint statement provides a legitimate voice to promote a swift resolution of the Gaza conflict and a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue,” Wang said, according to Chinese state media.
Israel declared war on Hamas after the militant group attacked the Gaza Strip on October 7, leaving about 1,200 people dead and more than 200 taken hostage, according to the Israeli military. More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, according to the country’s Health Ministry.
Since the war began, China has positioned itself as an advocate of the broader issue of a two-state solution seeking international recognition of a Palestinian state, a position consistent with China’s recognition of the state of Palestine in 1988.
China has also sent envoys to the region to meet with Arab countries and has supported ceasefire calls at the U.N. China has not explicitly condemned Hamas for the October 7 attack.
Beijing last month hosted representatives of rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas for “reconciliation” talks.
In diplomacy this week, China “want to demonstrate leadership, to strengthen relations, to call for a ceasefire” in Gaza, said Yun Sun, China program director at the Stimson Center, a Washington-based think tank. “They want to be a particularly strong leader on this issue, at least in rhetoric.”
“China has chosen to side with Palestine and Arab countries. This is a deliberate choice and signals a desire to work with Arab countries and the Global South. But China did not create the crisis; it simply exploited it,” she added.
Beijing has sought to strengthen ties across the Middle East in recent years, but observers say China’s influence in the region remains limited.
Beijing also appears reluctant to take specific steps to address the conflict’s regional implications. For example, China said it did not deploy additional naval assets to protect Red Sea shipping lanes that have come under attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in recent months.
In his opening remarks, President Xi pledged that China would contribute approximately $70 million to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and assist with post-conflict reconstruction, on top of the approximately $14 million already provided, and would also provide $3 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for emergency humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
Thursday’s ministerial meeting will be China’s first since holding its first joint summit with Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia in late 2022.
Xi then received a fanned welcome in the Gulf state, in contrast to a tense visit by U.S. President Joe Biden earlier that year amid American anger over Saudi Arabia’s alleged role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
President Xi also held bilateral meetings with leaders of the countries he visited this week and announced that the second China-Arab summit will be held in 2026.
