ISTANBUL

China’s President Xi Jinping on Friday met with Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in Hangzhou, the capital of the eastern Zhejiang province.

Al-Sabah is in China to attend the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games which are set to begin on Saturday.

"The Chinese side attaches importance to growing relations with Kuwait and is ready to work with the Kuwaiti side to take bilateral relations to higher levels,” Xi told Al-Sabah, according to Hua Chunying, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.

Hua said Kuwait is the first Arab state in the Gulf region to establish diplomatic ties with China and is also the first Middle Eastern country to sign Belt and Road cooperation documents with China.