Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived this Tuesday (13) morning in Beijing on an official visit.

During his four-day stay, Abbas will meet with President Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

The context of the visit is the invitation extended by the Chinese premier in the context of China’s willingness to mediate for a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian national question, thus contributing to peace in the region.

Last April, according to state-run Xinhua news agency, foreign minister Qin Gang signaled to his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts a willingness to help restart peace negotiations.

The many previous agreements between the Israeli government and the Palestinian National Authority have been torpedoed by non-compliance on both sides, with repeated hostilities and violence.

Last May, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Nakba (catastrophe in Arabic) for the first time, the United Nations commemorated the date marking the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their territories following the formation of the state of Israel, with an event attended by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

Mahmoud Abbas said at the time that Israel “continues to occupy and assault the Palestinians, denying the Nakba and the UN resolutions calling for the return of the Palestinians to their land”, as well as highlighting the imposition of an “apartheid regime”.

Today, the possibility of peace seems to be revived by the active conciliatory role of China, whose geopolitical role as a nonviolent peacemaker is increasingly successful.

In terms of a way out of the conflict, China’s vision coincides with that of the United Nations, which reaffirms the vision of two states living in neighbourhood, peace and security within the borders recognised in 1967.