Syria’s Assad to visit China Thursday: office

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will travel to China this week. This will be his first trip to the country since before the country’s civil war began out more than 12 years ago.

Assad visit China Thursday: Assad and his wife “will visit China starting Thursday,” the presidency announced, “in response to an official invitation” from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The statement said that the president would be accompanied by “a political and economic delegation” and stated that “the visit includes a number of meetings and events” in Beijing and Hangzhou.

China will be Assad’s third trip outside of the Arab world since the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011.

Beijing has given Damascus assistance on the global stage, especially at the UN Security Council where it has consistently voted against Damascus-related resolutions.

Over the years, representatives from both nations have also travelled there.

Longtime adversaries in the area Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to resume diplomatic ties and reopen their respective embassies six months prior to the announcement.

The action provoked a frenzy of diplomatic activity in the Middle East, where Arab outreach to Assad, an ally of Iran, had already gained speed following a fatal earthquake that slammed Syria and Turkey on February 6.

Following the agreement, Riyadh promoted Syria’s reintegration into the Arab community during a meeting in Saudi Arabia in May, putting an end to more than ten years of Damascus’ isolation in the region.