On the afternoon of May 10, 2009, Chinese President Hu Jintao held talks with visiting Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah at the Great Hall of the People. Both heads of state agreed to deepen pragmatic cooperation and deepen China-Kuwait friendly cooperative relations.
During the talks, Hu highlighted the growth of the relations since the two countries forged diplomatic ties 38 years ago, pointing to frequent exchanges between leaders of both countries as well as their political mutual respect and trust. Both sides have also continuously expanded cooperation on economy, trade, energy and humanities and maintained mutual understanding and support in international and regional affairs.
Hu said China is ready to work with Kuwait in the following three aspects to push bilateral friendly cooperative relations to a higher level. First, he called on the two sides to cement political mutual trust and deepen traditional friendship. China is ready to maintain the high-level exchanges with Kuwait and make full use of their bilateral consultation mechanism to strengthen dialogue and exchanges at all levels. He also urged both sides to continue mutual firm support on major issues concerning each other's state independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Both sides should deepen cooperation on culture, education, sports and tourism, expand people-to-people friendly exchanges and build up understanding and friendship between both peoples in a bid to enrich bilateral ties. Second, Hu suggested both sides give full play to their complementary advantages and enhance energy cooperation. China is willing to work closely with the Kuwaiti side to expand bilateral crude oil trade, deepen cooperation on petroleum engineering technology service, explore new ways of the upstream and downstream cooperation and establish a long-term and strategic partnership with mutual benefit in the regard of energy. Third, he urged both sides to advance pragmatic cooperation and promote common development. China is ready to continue expanding cooperation with Kuwait in the fields such as trade, transportation, telecommunications and engineering, so as to inject new vitality into bilateral pragmatic cooperation. China will encourage its competent and reputable enterprises to invest in and establish their businesses in Kuwait. Kuwaiti companies are also welcomed to explore market and seek business opportunities in China.
Agreeing with Hu's views on the bilateral relations, Emir Al-Sabah said that Kuwait highly values ties with China and regards the relations as its most important foreign relations. Smooth progress has been made in bilateral cooperation on politics, economy and trade, he added. During the current visit, both sides will sign a range of agreements in an effort to continue expanding their pragmatic cooperation in all areas, which is among the positive steps to push the friendly cooperative relations to a new level. Kuwait is committed to fostering its friendly and cooperative relations with China based on the mutual understanding and trust, Emir Al-Sabah said, calling on the two to intensify their exchange and cooperation on international and regional issues.
On China's relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Hu said China and GCC as well as its member states are important trading and energy partners. China is ready to further enhance and develop friendly relations with GCC and its member states to achieve mutual benefit, win-win cooperation and common development.
Emir Al-Sabah said he is ready to work with China to further advance friendly cooperation between GCC and China.
The two heads of state also exchanged views on such issues as the Middle East situation.
Following the talks, the two leaders attended a signing ceremony of relevant cooperation documents.
Prior to the talks, President Hu held a welcoming ceremony for Emir Al-Sabah at the square outside the East Gate of the Great Hall of the People. Vice Chairwoman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress Yan Junqi, State Councilor Dai Bingguo, Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Zheng Wantong, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK) Xiu Fujin, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission Zhang Ping, Director General of National Energy Bureau Zhang Guobao and Chinese Ambassador to Kuwait Huang Jiemin attended the welcoming ceremony.