The President of the Yemen-China Friendship Association praised China's great achievements in recent years and the active role played by China-proposed initiatives in promoting global cooperation.
The president, Jamal Al-Khawlani, was in Beijing on Friday for the China International Friendship Conference, which also marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
In an interview with China Central Television (CCTV), he shared his insights on the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
"That means we are together as people. We have to cooperate, move toward each other; we don't have to fight. The initiative of 'Belt and Road' is the only path for human beings to develop," he said.
Al-Khawlani also reflected on his 10 years of living and studying in China.
"I studied at Beijing Language Institute (now called Beijing Language and Culture University) at first and then at Shanghai University of Technology, now called Shanghai University. I'm also president of the Yemen-China Friendship Association. Actually, I grew up in China. When I came to China for the first time, I was only 16 years old," he said.
He expressed his amazement at the significant transformations China has undergone in recent years and stressed the importance of sincere cooperation and peaceful coexistence between nations.
Wearing a pin of the Chinese national flag at the conference, Al-Khawlani expressed his pride in having grown up in China and his firm belief that the friendship between China and Yemen, as well as the people of the two countries, will be further strengthened in the future.
"The relationship between the two countries and the two peoples is deeper than the Red Sea," he said.
Yemen, China share profound friendship: friendship association president
