Founded in 1981, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has six member countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). China has had ties with the GCC since its inception. Over the past 41 years, relations between China and the GCC countries have developed comprehensively, rapidly and intensively, with fruitful cooperation in the fields of trade, energy, infrastructure construction and high technology, among others.
China-GCC economic ties
The GCC countries play an important role as a hub linking Asia, Africa and Europe due to their geographic location. Notably, the GCC countries' petroleum and natural gas reserves account for 30 percent and 20 percent of the global supply, respectively.
According to data from China's General Administration of Customs, China remains the GCC's largest trading partner and largest export market for petrochemical products. Bilateral trade exceeded $230 billion in 2021, when Chinese fossil fuel imports from Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE reached $44.9 billion, $25.4 billion and $21.3 billion, respectively.
In recent years, the friendly relations between the two sides have consistently developed. On September 19, for instance, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with the GCC foreign ministers as a group on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. During the meeting, the two sides agreed to "make joint efforts to reach common ground on the China-GCC Free Trade Agreement (FTA) at an early date, so as to release positive signals and to help each other achieve better development."
Joint construction to help improve people's livelihoods
The two sides also enjoy extensive and in-depth cooperation in the fields of infrastructure construction and high technology to help improve people's livelihoods and enhance cooperation within the Belt and Road Initiative.
In the high-tech and energy fields, the Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company (YASREF) represents one of the most significant cooperation projects between China and a GCC member. It is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec). YASREF is a world-class, full-conversion refinery that covers about 5.2 million square meters in the Yanbu Industrial City. In Oman, the Ibri photovoltaic power station built by the Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA) was completed this year. Once operational, it can meet the electricity demand for 50,000 households.
"China will work with the GCC to foster a new pattern of multifaceted energy cooperation, accelerate new development in financial and investment cooperation, cultivate new highlights in people-to-people exchanges and explore new areas of innovation cooperation," Chinese President Xi Jinping noted in a signed article in the Saudi newspaper Al Riyadh on Thursday.
Data editor: Sun Yiwen
Graphics designer: Li Jingjie