RAMALLAH, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah has said that Palestine welcomes China's initiative to push forward the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Hamdallah made the remarks late Wednesday at a reception hosted by the Office of the People's Republic of China to the State of Palestine to celebrate the 68th anniversary of the founding of the P.R. China.
He hailed the peace plan proposed in July by Chinese President Xi Jinping on the political settlement of the Palestinian issue, saying that Palestinians "count on the growing and pivotal role that China plays in the arena and in supporting economic development and peace process in the world."
Hamdallah said that China's growing involvement in international affairs matches "its political and economic size and its influential presence, as well as its balanced relations with all international parties and forces."
Saluting the "strong historical and strategic ties" between Palestine and China, Hamdallah expressed the Palestinians' appreciation and gratitude to China for its "steadfast support" to their aspiration for achieving freedom, independence and statehood.
Hamdallah also reaffirmed Palestine's commitment to the advancement of the Sino-Palestinian ties in various fields.
For his part, Chen Xingzhong, director of the Office of the People's Republic of China to the State of Palestine, introduced the major achievements made by China in the past 68 years under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, including that China has become the world's second largest economy.
On the latest initiative launched by President Xi to settle the issue of Palestine based on the two-state solution, Chen said China supports the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian State based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Chinese envoy said China calls for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2334, immediate cessation of all settlement activities, and firm steps to prevent violence against civilians, resume negotiations and hasten political solution of the Palestinian issue, so to achieve common and lasting security.
Chen urged the international community to coordinate efforts on pushing forward the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
"China considers that both Palestine and Israel as important partners, and promotes mutual cooperation based on the concept of achieving peace," he said.
