China has reaffirmed its support for a Palestinian state after Donald Trump’s surprise proposal that the United States should take control of Gaza.

“Gaza belongs to Palestinians and is an inseparable part of Palestinian territory,” Chen Xiaodong, China’s vice-minister for foreign affairs, told a group of ambassadors from Arab states in a meeting in Beijing on Friday.

Any arrangements regarding the future of Gaza must respect the will of the Palestinian people, Chen added, according to a statement from the foreign ministry.

“China has always firmly supported the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people and the effective jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority over all Palestinian territories, including Gaza and the West Bank,” he said.

He added that Beijing would continue to maintain “close communication and collaboration” with Arab countries.

Friday’s meeting was held upon the request of the Arab states, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

The statement added that the ambassadors had said they “expected China to continue to play a constructive role in safeguarding international fairness and justice and supporting Palestine’s legitimate national rights”.

On Thursday, Guo Jiakun, the foreign ministry’s spokesman, also underlined Beijing’s long-held position against the forced displacement of people, saying that Gaza should never be turned into a “bargaining chip for political gains”.

Beijing has been a long-standing supporter of Palestinian statehood and has repeatedly said that a two-state solution is the only way out of the cycle of violence in the region.

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