Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a state visit at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also set to meet Chinese leaders later this week.

Abbas will stay in China through Tuesday, according to the Xinhua News Agency, while Netanyahu is due to stay in China from Monday to Friday.

Abbas told Xinhua that he plans to update Chinese leaders about obstacles to Israeli-Palestinian talks and ask them "to use its relationship with Israel to remove the obstacles that obstruct the Palestinian economy, such as obstacles for Chinese investors who come to invest in Palestine."

Of his overlapping visit with the Israeli leader Netanyahu, he said "it is a good opportunity that the Chinese listen to both of us."

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Friday that China is willing to assist Palestinian and Israeli leaders if they wish to meet while in China.

"China sincerely hopes Palestine and Israel can resume peace talks at an early date and score substantial progress," Hua said.

An Huihou, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said it is rare in Chinese diplomatic history for leaders of the two countries to have visited China almost simultaneously.

"It indicates that they highly value China's role in pushing forward the Middle East peace progress," said Hou.

Netanyahu is expected to seek greater Chinese backing for tougher sanctions against Iran in an attempt to slow its nuclear program, which Israel and Western states suspect is aimed at developing nuclear weapons, AFP reported.

Global Times