On May 21, 2008, Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa met with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who is in the capital of Bahrain, Manama, for the third ministerial meeting of China-Arab cooperation forum and a visit to the country.

Hamad and Sheikh Khalifa extended profound condolences over the devastating earthquake disaster, expressing belief that the Chinese government and people will certainly conquer the disaster and rebuild their homeland. Yang expressed sincere gratitude for their remarks.

Hamad and Sheikh Khalifa spoke highly of the development of various undertakings in China and wished China greater achievements. They expressed great satisfaction with the development of bilateral ties, noting that Bahrain cherishes traditional friendship with China and deems it a good brother and partner. They hoped to deepen cooperation in trade and financial sectors with China, and welcomed Chinese companies to invest in their country. Hamad and Sheikh Khalifa said their country attaches great importance to China's international status and influence and appreciates China's support of the just cause of the Arab people and its positive role in other international affairs. They hoped China would play greater role in international affairs and wished the Beijing Olympic Games a complete success.

Yang said the friendly cooperation between China and Bahrain has developed smoothly since the two sides forged diplomatic relations in 1989. Both sides have witnessed increasing political trust and sound coordination in international and regional affairs. China-Bahrain trade volume has increased rapidly and the two countries have made steady progress in engineering projects, agriculture, and finance, Yang said. Yang thanked for Bahrain's support on issues related to Taiwan, Tibet and Beijing Olympics and appreciated the country's thoughtful arrangements for the third ministerial meeting of China-Arab cooperation forum.

Yang said there is a sound political basis and great potential in expanding and deepening cooperation between the two countries. He said China will make joint efforts with Bahrain in stepping up political trust, economic cooperation, cultural exchanges based on mutual respect, equality and mutual benefits, so as to bring bilateral relations to a new height. Yang said China gives priority to developing friendly cooperative relations with Gulf countries and is ready to make joint efforts with them to push forward the overall relations between both sides.

China will also actively join any international efforts to push forward Middle East peace process and will make contributions to maintaining the region's peace, stability and development, he added.

On May 22, Yang also held talks with his Bahraini counterpart Sheikh Khaled Bin Ahmed al-Thani Thursday. Both sides have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral ties and major issues of mutual concern and reached broad consensus.

Yang also met with Secretary-General of the League of Arab States (LAS) Amr Mahmoud Moussa, Saudi Arabian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nizar bin Obaid Madani, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, Mauritanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Sudanese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Al-Samani Al-Wasila and Algerian Minister Delegate for Maghreb and African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel on the sidelines of the third ministerial meeting of China-Arab cooperation forum. The Chinese foreign minister also engaged broadly with other participating ministers and ministers' representatives, exchanging views on China-Arab cooperation and bilateral relations between China and relevant countries.