Ammon News - Chinese leader Xi Jinping decried “tremendous sufferings” in the Middle East and called for an international peace conference as leaders from Arab nations visit Beijing this week amid mounting global concern over Israel’s war in Gaza.

“Since last October, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has escalated drastically, throwing the people into tremendous sufferings. War should not continue indefinitely. Justice should not be absent forever,” Xi said Thursday at the opening of a meeting between top diplomats from China and Arab states, also attended by several leaders from the region.

He also reiterated China’s call for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, as well as Beijing’s support for a “more broad-based, authoritative and effective international peace conference.”

The diplomatic gatherings in Beijing come as Israel’s war in Gaza remains an urgent global focus, as Israeli forces intensify operations in the enclave’s southern city of Rafah and a humanitarian crisis worsens by the day.

China, which has sought to deepen its relations across the Middle East in recent years, has positioned itself in alignment with the Arab world and the broader Global South on the nearly eight-month-long conflict, criticizing Israel and calling for a ceasefire.

Xi in his remarks hailed a “common desire for a new era of China-Arab relations” and said their relations could be a “model for maintaining world peace and stability.”

Delegations from 22 Arab states joined that event at Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, according to Chinese state media.

Diplomats attending Thursday’s ministerial meeting were expected to adopt agreements to deepen cooperation across a range of fields and “make a common voice of China and Arab states on the Palestinian question,” China’s foreign ministry said ahead of the gathering.

With its diplomacy this week, China “wants to demonstrate leadership, consolidate ties, and call for ceasefire (in Gaza). It wants to be a particularly strong leader on this issue, at least rhetorically,” according to Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank.

“China has chosen to side with Palestine and the Arab countries. The choice is deliberate as it does suggest a desire to align with Arab countries, and the Global South. But China didn’t create the crisis. It only capitalized on it,” she added.

CNN