00:00 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in China on Thursday for the start of his first
00:05 visit to the country in two decades. Assad will meet President Xi Jinping for the first
00:11 time on Friday for talks which China's foreign ministry said hope to push bilateral relations
00:16 to a new level. For China, it's a chance to extend its influence in the Persian Gulf,
00:21 the world's largest source of oil. It could also play a major role in Syria's reconstruction,
00:27 which is expected to cost tens of billions of euros. For Assad, it's another step towards
00:32 breaking out of the diplomatic isolation to which he has been relegated in recent years.
00:37 [SWOOSH]
