The Chinese representatives to the China-Russia Friendship Committee for Peace and Development held a plenary meeting in Beijing on Friday.
Li Hongzhong, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and chairman of the Chinese representatives to the committee, attended the meeting and delivered a speech.
Li noted that in 2025, the 15th plenary session of the committee was successfully held in Russia, and that President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin sent congratulatory messages to the meeting, providing strategic guidance and fundamental principles for the committee's work.
Li highlighted the guiding role of head-of-state diplomacy, stressing the need to fully leverage the committee's role as a key channel for people-to-people exchanges between China and Russia, consolidate public support for bilateral friendship and advance practical cooperation.
During the meeting, the Chinese secretariat of the committee and its councils exchanged views on their work.
Chinese representatives to China-Russia Friendship Committee for Peace and Development hold plenum in Beijing
Impact of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is pushing Gulf countries to revisit costly plans for pipelines to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, so that they can continue to export oil and gas, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Thursday.
"Officials and industry executives say new pipelines may be the only way to reduce Gulf countries' enduring vulnerability to disruption in the strait, even though such projects would be expensive, politically complex and take years to complete," said the report.
"Previous plans for pipelines across the region have repeatedly stalled, undone by high costs and complexity," it said.
The Strait of Hormuz is a vital global energy corridor bordered by Iran to the north.
Around a fifth of global liquefied natural gas supply passed through the Strait of Hormuz, which also carries about one quarter of global seaborne oil trade.
Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities on Feb. 28, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes against Israel and U.S. assets in the Middle East, while tightening control over the Strait of Hormuz by restricting passage to vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States.
Gulf countries consider new pipelines to avoid Strait of Hormuz: Financial Times
