TRIPOLI, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Foreign Minister of Libya's UN-backed government Mohamed Sayala met Chinese Charge d'Affaires to Libya Wang Qimin on Wednesday and discussed the return of Chinese companies to Libya.
"The Libyan authorities have set up a committee to follow up suspended projects of Chinese companies," Wang said, adding that moves will be underway to find out mechanisms for resuming the projects after the end of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan, Muslim's holy month of fasting.
Under the regime of the late Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Libya signed huge contracts with foreign companies, including China, worth tens of billions of U.S. dollars in infrastructure, housing and railways.
However, these projects stopped when most foreign companies left the country in 2011 due to the security situation.
Sayala and Wang also discussed the political developments in Libya, as well as the UN-proposed action plan and the upcoming elections.
"I spoke with Minister Sayala about the importance of holding elections as soon as possible as a positive impact on the situation in Libya," Wang told Xinhua after the meeting.
France recently hosted a meeting on Libya with the participation of different Libyan parties to end the political crisis.
The parties agreed to hold and be committed to "credible" presidential and parliamentary elections on Dec. 10.
The Chinese envoy on Tuesday met with the Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Serraj and discussed mutual cooperation.
The diplomat on Monday signed documents to provide medical aid to Libya worth up to 6 million dollars, following a meeting with the Libyan Health Minister Omar al-Tahir Bashir.
"The aid is an important commitment from China to Libya, as special assistance is provided every year to support the health sector," Wang told Xinhua following the signing of the documents.