Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in eastern Hangzhou city, in this handout picture released by Sana on September 22, 2023, Syria. China, the world's second-largest economy, will also support Syria's reconstruction, Chinese state media reported Xi as saying. In Chinese diplomacy, a "strategic partnership" implies closer coordination on regional and international affairs, including in the military sphere. But analysts said there was likely to be a limit to how far Beijing would help Damascus beyond recovering its regional status. "That is not part of China's role identity in the Middle East, which is to try and have a role without taking sides."

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Persons: Xi Jinping, Bashar al, Sana, Handout, Syria's Assad, Assad, Xi, Caesar, Matteo Legrenzi, Joe Cash, Ella Cao, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Saudi, Initiative, University of Venice, Thomson Locations: Assad, Hangzhou, Syria, Beijing, China, BEIJING, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Damascus, Ca'Foscari