Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said in Beijing on November 4 that the Chinese government and leaders hope Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will recover soon.

Arafat is in a coma and in an "extremely bad state," AFP reported Thursday. He is in the Percy Military Hospital near Paris.

"President Arafat is an old friend of the Chinese people. Being very concerned about his physical conditions, the Chinese government and leaders have extended regards to him and expressed their hope that he will recover soon," she told a regular press conference.

Source: Xinhua