Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said yesterday that Palestinian suffering is “larger than the refugee tragedy,” stressing the Palestinian issue is on top of the Chinese diplomatic agenda, the Anadolu Agency reported.

Receiving his Palestinian counterpart Riad Al-Maliki in Beijing, Yi said: “A lot of people speak about the refugees and other hot issues, but the Palestinian brothers bear more than this. We express our extreme sympathy with them.”

“The Palestinian issue occupies a very important place on the Chinese diplomatic agenda.”

Both ministers met on the margin of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), which convenes in Beijing today.

Al-Maliki said: “You know how much we appreciate your friendship and the old relationship which connects China with Palestine.”

During the meeting, the ministers discussed mutual relations and ways to promote them. Al-Maliki told the Anadolu that he briefed Yi about the latest political developments, mainly the Israeli settlements and escalations in attacks against Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.