On the morning of July 5, Yin Yong, Mayor of Beijing, met with Abdullah Alswaha, Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Saudi Arabia.

Yin said the state visit of President Xi Jinping to Saudi Arabia in December last year has brought China-Saudi Arabia relations to a new level. As the world's second largest economy, China remains a magnet for investment from global companies due to its huge market size, great domestic demand and growth potential, as well as sustained and sound economic development. In recent years, to build itself into a global pacesetter of digital economy, Beijing has made major progress in digital economy and smart city development by giving full play to data, the newest and most dynamic factor. Beijing stands ready to work with Saudi Arabia, an important and comprehensive strategic partner of China, to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, and boost mutually beneficial cooperation in areas such as digital economy, information and communications, smart city, and industrial investment. Businesses from the two sides are encouraged to engage in two-way investment, bringing more fruitful cooperation.

Alswaha spoke highly of China's socio-economic achievements, regarding sci-tech innovation and digital economy as emerging and important areas of cooperation. Saudi Arabia is willing to strengthen ties with Beijing, learn from Beijing's experience in smart city development, and push forward pragmatic cooperation in fields such as artificial intelligence, digital economy, and new infrastructure.

Abdulrahman Ahmad Al-Harbi, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to China; and Mu Peng, Secretary General of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality, attended the meeting.

(Written by Yang Qi; Video by Chen Xing, Song Hengyu)