Oman is willing to further develop bilateral friendly relations and economic cooperation with China as China-Oman friendship is in its golden development period, said Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to China Abdullah Zaher Al Hussni in Beijing Tuesday.

Hussni said that the cities of China were connected with the cities of Oman by the sea Silk Road and spice trade centuries before. The long history of two-way communications has laid a strong foundation for today's development of bilateral relations.

Oman will carry out more cooperation with China as one of its most important economic partners and a friendly country with friendly people, he said.

Omani Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers Fahad Bin Mahmoud Al-said will pay a five-day official visit to China from September 24 to 28 at the invitation of Vice President Zeng Qinghong. The entourage will include five ministers and several entrepreneurs.

During the visit, Fahad will exchange views with Chinese leaders on Sino-Omani relations and international and regional issues of common concern. The ministers will also hold talks with their Chinese counterparts.

The delegation will visit Beijing and Shanghai, where they will hold fairs on economic and trade cooperation with Chinese businessmen. The Oman News Agency will discuss cooperation with Xinhua, China's state news agency, according to Hussni.

The visit is the first one paid by Fahad to China, who is also the highest Omani leader visiting China in recent years, said Hussni, adding the visit demonstrates the common interest and long-lasting friendship between China and Oman and the two peoples.

He said he believed that the visit will promote the development of bilateral relations to a great extent and will give positive impetus to two-way economic and trade cooperation.

China-Oman relations have seen stable and deepening development in such areas as politics, economy and trade and energy since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1978. Both sides also understand and support each other in international affairs. The two-way trade volume in 2004 was US$4.4 billion.

Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan visited Oman in June this year. Both sides exchanged views on further deepening cooperation in fields including trade, investment, oil exploration, infrastructure construction, training and agriculture, reached consensus in this regard and signed a summary.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2005)