POLITICAL ISSUES
KUWAIT
1) Kuwaiti PM to visit China and attend CASCF
Beijing, Tuesday, 27 May 2014
Prime minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah would pay an official visit to China from 2-5 June and would attend the opening ceremony of the sixth ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF).
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

IRAN
2) China, Iran vow to deepen defence cooperation
Beijing, Monday, 5 May 2014
Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan held talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Dehqan in Beijing and said that the development of bilateral relations has remained positive and steady, featuring frequent high-level exchanges and deepened political mutual trust.
Source: China Daily, Beijing; See also: Xinhua, Beijing

3) China welcomes progress on Iranian nuclear issue
Beijing, Tuesday, 6 May 2014
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that China welcomed the latest progress on the Iranian nuclear issue in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

4) Chinese military official meets Iranian defence minister
Beijing, Wednesday, 7 May 2014
Vice Chairperson of China's Central Military Commission Fan Changlong met with Iranian Minister of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics Hossein Dehqan in Beijing and said China is willing to make joint efforts with Iran to strengthen political trust and deepen pragmatic cooperation to promote bilateral relations to the next level.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

5) Chinese state councillor meets Iranian defence minister
Beijing, Wednesday, 7 May 2014
Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi met with Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehqan and discussed deepening of bilateral cooperation.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

6) China pledges to promote Iranian nuclear talks
Beijing, Monday, 19 May 2014
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said that China hopes that all the parties involved can translate their political will into a mutually beneficial deal to ease Iranian nuclear tensions.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

7) China, Iran pledge to boost ties
Beijing, Thursday, 22 May 2014
Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with visiting Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani and pledged to enhance bilateral ties.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing; See also: China Daily, Beijing

8) Iran wants more links, cooperation with China: president
Beijing, Thursday, 22 May 2014
Iran wishes to serve as a bridge connecting China and Central Asia and the Caucasus, and looks forward to more cooperation, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in Beijing.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

IRAQ
9) China praises parliamentary elections in Iraq
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that China welcomed parliamentary elections in Iraq and hoped they would help push forward political reconciliation and economic reconstruction in the country.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing; See also: China Daily, Beijing

ISRAEL
10) China, Israel pledge to push bilateral cooperation to new high
Jerusalem, Monday, 19 May 2014
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong pledged to further promote bilateral cooperation in the areas of science, innovation, health, education and people-to-people exchange when they met during an official visit by Yandong to Israel.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing; See also: China Daily, Beijing

11) Israel, China agree to expand bilateral cooperation
Tel Aviv, Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Israeli President Shimon Peres met with visiting Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong in Tel Aviv and discussed steps to improve cooperation between the two countries in diverse fields.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

SYRIA
12) China welcomes humanitarian aid to Syrian city
Beijing, Friday, 9 May 2014
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that China welcomed the start of humanitarian aid to the old city of Homs in Syria and called for a full ceasefire.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

13) China calls for appointment of UN Syria envoy
Beijing, Thursday, 15 May 2014
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that China called on the UN to name a new Syria mediator as soon as possible and continue to advance the political settlement process to help solve the crisis.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

14) China says passing Syrian issue to ICC now harms efforts for political solution
United Nations, Thursday, 22 May 2014
Wang Min, the deputy Chinese permanent representative to the UN, warned that if the issue of Syria is referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), it would jeopardize the international efforts towards a political solution.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

15) China says Syrian draft resolution would complicate situation
Beijing, Friday, 23 May 2014
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said that an UN draft resolution on Syria would complicate the situation and urged the international community to insist on a political settlement.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

16) China urges political solution in Syria
Beijing, Friday, 30 May 2014
China's Foreign Ministry issued a statement that actions taken by the UN Security Council should be conducive to a political solution.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

TURKEY
17) Chinese foreign minister meets Turkish counterpart
Shanghai, Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the two sides pledged closer cooperation.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

ECONOMIC ISSUES
KUWAIT
18) ICBC gets approval for Kuwait branch
Beijing, Monday, 19 May 2014
China's biggest bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, got the final approval to open a branch in Kuwait.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

ISRAEL
19) Israel unveils plan to boost trade with China
Jerusalem, Wednesday, 21 May 2014
An Israeli ministerial committee announced a comprehensive action plan to expand bilateral economic ties with China, aiming to double Israeli to about US$ 5 billion annually.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

TURKEY
20) China's ICBC taps new business in Turkey
Istanbul, Friday, 9 May 2014
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has agreed to buy 75.5 percent shares of Tekstilbank. Previously, ICBC had purchased all of the shares of Turkish financial services provider GSD Holding in Tekstilbank for US$ 315.4 million at the end of April.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

UAE
21) UAE seeks to strengthen economic ties with China
Dubai, Friday, 30 May 2014
Minister of State Sultan Al-Jaber returned from a two-day visit from China where he held talks on bilateral cooperation in the field of energy, infrastructure and technology.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

MULTILATERAL ISSUES
22) China plans cooperation with Arab countries
Beijing, Monday, 19 May 2014
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said that China and Arab countries will map out cooperation plans to promote their relations through the upcoming sixth ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF).
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

23) China says CASCF to promote ties with Arab states
Beijing, Friday, 30 May 2014
Chinese Vice foreign minister Zhang Ming said that the upcoming sixth ministerial meeting of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) will promote its ties with Arab countries.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES
EGYPT
24) Egypt angered about China's fake Sphinx
Beijing, Monday, 26 May 2014
The Egyptian government protested against Hebei province's replica Great Sphinx of Giza, stating that the structure undermines the country's cultural heritage.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

ISRAEL
25) Israeli doctor aids Sichuan patients
Sichuan, Tuesday, 6 May 2014
Marris Topaz, who heads the plastic surgery unit of the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera, volunteered his medical skills in the Sichuan province of China and aiding many locals who are unable to afford the medical facilities.
Source: China Daily, Beijing

26) Tel Aviv University, Tsinghua launch innovative research centre
Jerusalem, Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Tel Aviv University and Chinese Tsinghua University inaugurated a joint centre for innovative research and education.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

27) Senior China official, visiting Holocaust museum, says history should not be forgotten
Jerusalem, Thursday, 22 May 2014
Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong visited Yad Vashem, a museum dedicated to the victims of the Nazi genocide and said that history should never be forgotten or repeated.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

LEBANON
28) Yao Chen visits Lebanon to raise awareness of refugees
Beijing, Thursday, 22 May 2014
Yao Chen, a popular Chinese actress who serves as goodwill ambassador of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) visited a refugee settlement of Ras el-Ein, near the Lebanese city of Tyre, about 80 km south of Beirut and met many refugee families to discuss their problems.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

QATAR
29) Qatar Airways offers online visa service to Chinese passengers
Beijing, Saturday, 10 May 2014
Qatar Airways announced that it has launched online visa services for Chinese passengers travelling to Qatar towards encouraging more Chinese tourist inflow.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

COMPILED BY DIPANWITA CHAKRAVORTTY

Dipanwita Chakravortty is a doctoral candidate in School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Email

As part of its editorial policy, the MEI@ND standardizes spelling and date formats to make the text uniformly accessible and stylistically consistent. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views/positions of the MEI@ND. Editor, MEI@ND: P R Kumaraswamy