Chinese envoy lauds ‘excellent’ Sino-Jordanian ties

AMMAN — Jordan and China enjoy “excellent” diplomatic, economic and political relations, the Chinese Ambassador to Jordan Pan Weifang said on Wednesday. 

During a meeting organised by the Middle East Studies Centre (MESC) , Weifang talked about “China’s Policies towards Jordan and the Transformations in The Middle East”. 

Located in the middle of a conflict zone, Weifang said, Jordan faces security challenges which have shaped a common interest between the two states regarding peacekeeping in the region.

The ambassador noted the economic cooperation between Jordan and China, from the $2 million cash donations to help provide food to Syrian refugees in Jordan, to grants, the supply of CCTV cameras and the projected Sino-Jordanian university.

A cultural centre to teach Chinese language and culture will open soon in Jordan, the diplomat said, opening the door for Jordanians to benefit from its educational services in northern Jordan.

At the commercial level, China is conducting talks with the Iraqi and Jordanian governments to establish a railway between Aqaba and Iraq’s Basra to transfer oil, Weifang said, also citing planned cooperation in oil shale. 

Meanwhile, the envoy expressed his support for the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying that China believes in political solution rather than a military one.

Weifang also stressed China’s support for the Syrian peace talk in between the opposition and the regime.

MESC’s “The World and Us” programme hosts foreign envoys in discussions held for a select group of politicians, diplomats, decision makers, activists and academics to shed new light on concepts in a positive framework, reflecting the interplay of relations between state actors, MESC President Jawad Al Hamad says in the centre’s book “Ambassadors in Jordan Speak Out” which was launched during Wednesday’s lecture.