On January 1, H.E. Mr. Yang Honglin met with H.R.H Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, also as the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense and Aviation and Inspector-General. The Chinese Military Attaché, Mr. Pang Yandong, the Crown Prince's Consultant, Mr. Mashal-Khaled and Director of the Crown Prince's Court, Mr. Ibrahim attended the meeting.

  H.E. Mr. Yang expressed his gratitude to H.R.H Crown Prince Sultan for meeting with him while conveyed greetings from Chinese leaders to His Royal Highness. He spoke highly of the contributions made by the Crown Prince himself in strengthening Sino-Saudi relations. He denoted that the two countries enjoyed a traditional friendship and wide range of common interests. Bilateral relations have stepped into a new era with links flourished in the areas of politics, economics, culture, education and health since the exchange of visits between the head of state of China and Saudi Arabia. He emphasized that China would like to strengthen political trust, substantiate economic and trade ties and enhance cultural exchanges with Saudi Arabia in order to promote the mutually beneficial cooperation to a new height and bring benefits to the two peoples.

  H.R.H Crown Prince Sultan welcomed H.E. Mr. Yang's arrival to his new post as the Chinese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia while extended his greetings to Chinese leaders through the ambassador. He denoted that both Saudi Arabia and China were peace-loving countries with a long history of bilateral relations. Saudi Arabia attached great importance to the friendship with China and viewed China as a true friend of Saudi Arabia. The two countries upheld similar positions politically, supplemented with each other economically and enjoyed huge potential in furthering bilateral relations. He also expressed his wish to strengthen all-round cooperation between the two countries and further the strategic friendship at a faster pace.