Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday that China-Saudi Arabia relations have become a model for mutual respect, mutual benefits and win-win cooperation.

Wang made the remarks in a phone conversation with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, while noting that the two countries have just celebrated the 30th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties.

In their congratulatory messages on the 30th anniversary, leaders of the two countries have spoken highly of the great progress achieved in China-Saudi Arabia relations and have pointed out the direction of deepening bilateral cooperation, Wang noted.

China stands ready to work with Saudi Arabia to implement the important consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries, constantly enhance political mutual trust, continue to firmly support each other, and promote the in-depth alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, so as to jointly create a better future for bilateral relations, Wang said.

China appreciates Saudi Arabia's active role as the presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20) by holding a series of important activities, Wang pointed out.

Noting that the formulation of the outcome of the G20 Riyadh Summit enters a critical stage, Wang said China believes that the summit should uphold the spirit of sticking together through thick and thin, support multilateralism, strengthen policy coordination, and send to the world positive signals of uniting in the fight against COVID-19, promoting the recovery of the world economy and implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

China will, as always, support the work of the Saudi presidency and believes that the summit will be a complete success, he added.

Wang said the World Trade Organization (WTO) is the key platform for global economic governance and the core of the multilateral trading system, which is currently facing severe challenges posed by unilateralism and protectionism.

The international community should firmly safeguard multilateralism and the multilateral trading system, stick to the correct direction of the WTO reform, uphold the basic principles and core values of the WTO, and re-establish the authority of the WTO, he said.

For his part, Faisal said Saudi Arabia and China are solid comprehensive strategic partners, and Saudi Arabia fully agrees to take the 30th anniversary as a new starting point to promote bilateral relations to achieve more fruitful results.

Faisal said both Saudi Arabia and China support multilateralism and free trade, and the two countries maintain close communication and coordination on G20 cooperation.

Without China's strong support and active participation, the G20 special summit on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic would not have achieved positive results in promoting the international solidarity in the global COVID-19 fight, he said.

Saudi Arabia is willing to work with China to jointly promote the Riyadh Summit at the end of the year to achieve success, he added.

The two sides also exchanged views on issues including deepening China-Arab strategic partnership and supporting Saudi Arabia in hosting the China-Arab Summit.