From May 5 to 6, 2018, Special Envoy of the Chinese Government on the Middle East Issue Gong Xiaosheng visited Saudi Arabia, during which he respectively met with Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Political and Economical Affairs Jamal Aqeel of Saudi Arabia and Secretary-General of Syrian Negotiations Commission Safwan Akkash of Saudi Arabia, mainly exchanging views on the Syrian issue, the situation in the Middle East and other issues.

During the visit, Gong Xiaosheng also gave a joint interview to Chinese mainstream media in Saudi Arabia, introducing the situation of the visit and the work China has done to promote the political settlement of the Syrian issue, and answering questions from journalists.