"So, in which sector? In every sector. I mean, China can be in every sector with no exception, because we have damage in every sector," Assad said in the interview, published by the SANA news agency.
Wang Yiwei, a Professor in the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China, told Sputnik China that Beijing is interested in restoring the infrastructure of Syria for the purpose of its Silk Road Economic Belt project.
"Syrian projects are undoubtedly of great interests to investors and the post-war reconstruction of the country will bring many profitable deals to contractors," he told Sputnik.
China, he said, has the ability to rebuild the country, and recalled that the historic Silk Road trade route actually ran through Damascus.
When the war in the country begins to wane, there will be the need for large-scale reconstruction and also the construction of new infrastructure, which will bring investments into other spheres.
Syria, he said, is a major transport link with other countries of the Middle East and an important center of culture. Hence it might be very attractive for Chinese investment.
Li Shaoxian, Dean of the Institute of Arab studies at China's Ningxia University told Sputnik that cooperation with the Syrian government will enable China to fight against terrorism on its own territory.
"There is nothing extraordinary in President Assad's words. It is not the first time he has talked about this. Syria has been trying to set up close relations with various countries for a long time. However many western states do not want to cooperate with him, which is why Damascus is looking for friendly support from Russia and China," he told Sputnik.
The Syrian government, he said, is playing an important role in the fight against extremist forces, and this fact is recognized by the international community.
The expert note that the Syrian leader has already spoken about cooperation with China at his meeting with the delegation from the European Parliament. Two years ago, the expert said, it was hard to imagine that such a delegation could visit Syria and meet with Bashar Assad.
The international community, he said, is interested in the fight against terrorism. Taking into consideration the threat to its national security coming from the Eastern Turkestan extremist group, China has a firm intention to cooperate with all parties, including Russia. However the degree and the depth of this cooperation depends on each particular country, the expert concluded.
