CROWN Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah arrived in east China’s Hangzhou City on Thursday to attend the official opening ceremony of the 19th ASIAN GAMES and relevant activities.
Crown Prince Mishal was the first foreign leader to arrive in Hangzhou for the opening ceremony.
Kuwait has sent the largest delegation in history to the 19th Asian Games, including 140 athletes who are going to compete in 25 events such as archery, boxing, handball, and equestrian.
This is also Mishal’s first trip to China since he became the crown prince of Kuwait in 2020.
Kuwait was the first Gulf Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with China and was among the first countries to sign an agreement on the Belt and Road initiative with China in the region.
Syrian Pres. Assad arrives in Hangzhou for opening ceremony of Asian Games
Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad arrived in Hangzhou City for the said Asian Games.
To welcome the Syrian president, a guard of honor stood along the red carpet to pay tribute, and the welcoming crowd gathered at the airport.
Chinese Pres. Xi Jinping to hold banquet for foreign leaders attending Asian Games
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou and hold a welcoming banquet and bilateral events for foreign leaders on Friday and Saturday.
The foreign leaders attending the opening ceremony in China are King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia, President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria, Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” of Nepal, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão of Timor-Leste, Prime Minister Han Duck-Soo of the Republic of Korea and Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat of Malaysia Johari Bin Abdul.
Moreover, the sultan of Brunei’s Representative Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, the Emir of Qatar’s Representative Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prince Faisal Bin Hussein of Jordan, Princess Sirivannavari of Thailand and Deputy Prime Minister Edil Baisalov of Kyrgyzstan will attend relevant events.
The 19th Asian Games was co-hosted by Hangzhou as well as five other cities of Zhejiang province including Ningbo, Wenzhou, Jinhua, Shaoxing, and Huzhou – will officially begin on Saturday and will end on October 18.
This year’s edition is set to be the largest ever, with around 12,500 athletes from 45 countries and regions competing in 40 sports, 61 disciplines, and 481 events.
