Syria’s Assad to visit China in first trip since 2004

September 19, 2023
Bashar al-Assad will visit China on Thursday, marking the Syrian president’s first trip to the People’s Republic since 2004 as Beijing’s influence in the Middle East grows.
Assad and Syrian First Lady Asma al-Assad are traveling to China on the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Assad and Xi will hold a Syrian-Chinese summit, and Assad will hold additional meetings in the capital Beijing as well as Hangzhou in the east. Assad’s delegation will include Foreign Minister Fayssal Mikdad and Economy and Foreign Trade Minister Mohammad Samer al-Khalil, Syria’s official news outlet SANA reported on Tuesday.
Why it matters: The visit marks a major milestone in Syria-China relations, being Assad’s first to China since 2004. That trip was the first by a Syrian head of state since Syria established relations with the People’s Republic in 1956, according to Reuters.
Syria’s relations with China have been improving for some time, including with regard to the Syrian civil war. In 2020, China and Russia started using their veto power at the United Nations Security Council to close three of the four cross-border aid routes from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan into parts of Syria outside of government control, arguing that aid should be delivered through Damascus. The resolution allowing aid to be delivered via the sole remaining crossing at Bab al-Hawa on the Turkish border expired in July, but the Syrian government said at the time that aid could continue for six months.
On the economic front, Syria joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative for global infrastructure in early 2022.
China is also growing closer to Iran, a key ally of Assad. In May, Assad and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi issued a joint statement praising China for brokering the March agreement that resumed relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The statement came during Raisi’s visit to Damascus. Iranian oil exports to China are also rising.
The trip also represents Syria’s improved standing in the international order amid the ongoing civil war. Since the fighting began in 2011, Assad has only traveled to allied Russia and Middle Eastern countries.
SANA did not include further details on the trip, but the participation of the Syrian economy minister could indicate the economic motivations of the visit. Moreover, Hangzhou is considered one of China’s major tech hubs and the e-commerce giant Alibaba is based in the city.
Trade between China and Syria is not particularly strong. China exported $482 million to Syria in 2021, with the largest export being rice. Syria exported just $1.21 million to China that year, about 30% of which was soap, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
Know more: China’s ties with other countries in the Middle East are strengthening rapidly, particularly those with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The UAE sovereign wealth fund Mubadala opened an office in Beijing earlier this month. The Saudi and Chinese stock exchanges also announced a cooperation agreement earlier in September.