Manama: Kuwait and China have signed ten agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to boost their ties and cooperation in the areas of economy, investment, energy, culture, education and civil aviation.
The deals were inked in the Chinese capital Beijing where Prime Minister Shaikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah was making an official visit.
Shaikh Jaber and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang attended the landmark signing.
Kuwait, like other fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, are boosting the relations with Asia in a robust Look East drive that saw several GCC leaders make visits to countries in the Asian continent.
Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Shaikh Sabah Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi signed an agreement on mutual visa exemption for holders of diplomatic, service and special passports, Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) reported on Tuesday.
A MoU was inked by Kuwaiti Minister of Finance Anas Al Saleh and Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Chairman Xu Shaoshi on cooperation regarding the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Silk City.
An educational loan deal was signed by Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Shaikh Sabah Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah and Chinese Minister of Finance Lou Jiwei, the official news agency added.
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Acting Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Abdul Mohsen Al Madaj and National Energy Administration Chairman Wu Xinxiong signed an oil cooperation deal.
Minister of Finance Anas Al Saleh and his Chinese counterpart Lou Jiwei concluded an infrastructure investment agreement.
An air service deal was concluded by Kuwaiti and Chinese civil aviation authorities, together with a literary translation agreement.
A MoU was inked by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) CEO Nizar Al Adsani and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) Chairman Fu Chengyu.
Kuwait Investment Authority Director General Bader Al Sa’ad and China Africa Development Fund (CAD Fund) chairman Chi Jianxin signed a MoU in the field of cooperation in investment in Africa.
A bilateral communication agreement was signed between Kuwait’s leading telecommunications company, Zain, and China’s telecom solutions provider, Huawei.
In a statement to Kuna, Al Madaj stressed that developing relations with a world major and leading economic power such as China was a necessity for Kuwait.
“Kuwait is keen on upgrading relations with China and wooing Chinese companies to Kuwait to participate in the execution of projects of the state development plan,” he said following the signing of the accords.
The Minister stressed that China was one of the world’s biggest importers of Kuwait crude oil and petrochemical products and pointed out that Kuwait’s trade relations with China dated back to mid of the last century.
