General Secretariat – New York
His Excellency Mr Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), affirmed that the joint Gulf-Chinese ministerial meeting reflects the commitment and desire of both sides to deepen and strengthen their strategic partnership and to embark on new and comprehensive avenues of cooperation.
This was stated during his speech at the joint ministerial meeting between the GCC and the People's Republic of China, attended by Their Highnesses and Excellencies the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the GCC countries, as well as His Excellency Mr Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Foreign Minister of the friendly People's Republic of China, held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings on Friday, September 27, 2024, in New York City.
His Excellency the GCC Secretary General began his speech by referencing the recent meeting with His Excellency Li Qiang, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, in Riyadh, which witnessed fruitful discussions on enhancing cooperation in several areas, including energy, investment, technology, space, and language and culture. He expressed optimism regarding the anticipated free trade agreement, which will contribute to increasing trade volume between the GCC countries and China.
Moreover, His Excellency noted that the trade volume between the two sides reached approximately $228.9 billion in 2021, representing 32.2% of the total trade of the GCC countries. He emphasised the importance of cooperation in the energy sector, highlighting ongoing discussions to host a joint conference in China with GCC countries on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and the establishment of a nuclear security center.
He also reviewed efforts to enhance cooperation in the environmental sector through coordination to hold a GCC-Chinese seminar on confronting climate change, in addition to signing memoranda of understanding to enhance cooperation in the fields of intellectual property, standards, and meteorology.
His Excellency confirmed that these joint efforts embody the sincere desire of both parties to strengthen the strategic partnership, expressing confidence that these initiatives will contribute to deepening cooperation and bringing the GCC and Chinese peoples closer together, while providing a conducive environment for investment and trade exchange.
In conclusion, he expressed optimism for the future of cooperation between the GCC and China, affirming that this partnership is based on a sincere and mutual desire to enhance cooperation ties, looking forward to achieving further successes in the near future.
