BEIJING, May 31 -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in Beijing on Friday.

Li said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Bahrain 35 years ago, the two countries have always respected each other, treated each other as equals and deepened friendly cooperation.

China cherishes its traditional friendship with Bahrain, Li said, adding that it stands ready to work with Bahrain to follow the important strategic guidance of the two heads of state, continuously consolidate the political foundation of the two countries, achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, push the bilateral ties to a new level and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

China firmly supports Bahrain in safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and stability, and in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions, the premier said.

Li said China is willing to work with Bahrain to solidly promote the construction of energy, housing and other infrastructure and people's livelihood projects under the framework of high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road, expand trade and investment cooperation, deepen cooperation in emerging fields such as electric vehicles and digital economy, and actively carry out people-to-people exchanges in education, tourism and other fields.

Li noted that China is ready to work with Bahrain and other Arab countries to build the "five cooperation frameworks" between China and Arab countries, step up the building of a China-Arab community with a shared future, and make greater contributions to global peace and development.

Hamad said Bahrain values its friendship with China, firmly adheres to the one-China principle and supports China in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Bahrain supports the joint construction of the Belt and Road and is willing to work with China to further expand cooperation areas and push for continuous and in-depth development of Bahrain-China relations.

Hamad said Bahrain supports positive outcomes of free trade agreement negotiations between the Gulf Cooperation Council and China, adding that it greatly appreciates China's objective and just position on the Palestinian issue.