DUBAI: Arab Gulf nations, strategic partners of the United States, are strengthening relations with China that involve diversifying their economies from fossil fuel to green energy.
The China-Gulf summit is focused on key areas of economic cooperation between China and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Xi Jinping’s visit to strengthen energy cooperation
By 2020, China had become a key trading partner with the Gulf Cooperation Council member states, especially collaborations in the field of energy.
China imports hydrocarbons from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. China alone imported 17 percent of the oil in 2021 from Gulf countries.
Qatar provides China with liquefied natural gas (LNG) — a trade that the global energy crisis has increased due to the Ukraine war.
In November, Qatar signed a $60 billion natural gas deal with China for 27 years. Qatar termed the deal as the longest such agreement so far.
Xi Jinping to hold free trade talks
In July 2004, China and the Gulf Cooperation Council announced negotiations to strike a free-trade deal.
Around two decades later, following nine rounds of negotiations, the parties have yet to reach a final agreement, despite announcing in January to further accelerate the talks process.
Today’s China-Gulf summit in Xi Jinping’s attendance is widely considered an opportunity to launch negotiations.
China’s trade ties are particularly strong with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the biggest Middle East market for Chinese goods, and is a big export market for Chinese products and goods, particularly to other Arab countries.
Investment
According to the American Enterprise Institute’s data, from 2005 to 2022, Chinese companies made investments worth over $107 billion in the Gulf states.
Chinese investment’s largest share went to the Arab world’s biggest economy, Saudi Arabia.
According to the think tank, Chinese investments in Saudi Arabia were valued at nearly $49.6 billion over the past 17 years.
Technology and weapons
The Gulf countries have also turned to China for arms and technology as part of the Arab world’s efforts to diversify its suppliers as the US is closely monitoring the developments. An agreement in this regard is also expected during Xi Jinping’s visit.
UAE would purchase twelve attack planes from China, weeks after warning to cancel its purchase of F-35s from the US.
![NEW YORK: Pakistan's former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, leading Pakistan’s high-level parliamentary delegation, on Tuesday warned that India's aggressive actions pose a serious threat to peace in South Asia and urged the international community to take note of India's aggressive conduct. Bilawal was addressing a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on recent regional developments after the military conflict between India and Pakistan. The Pakistani delegation is in New York to present Pakistan’s stance on the military escalation with India and to challenge New Delhi’s narrative at the global level. The visit is part of Pakistan’s sustained diplomatic outreach to brief key UN stakeholders on the alarming regional situation. The Pakistani delegation is also scheduled to arrive in Washington today, where it plans to engage with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, other senior officials, lawmakers, and think tanks till June 6. The team will also visit London and Brussels. Speaking at the press conference, Bilawal said that he wanted to use the opportunity to share Pakistan’s perspective on the recent military conflict with India in the wake of the Pahalgam attack and the way forward. Bilawal said that the “illegal strikes” launched by India as part of its ‘Operation Sindoor’ were “in violation of the UN Charter, international law”. He said the attacks had targeted civilian infrastructure, places of worship, energy infrastructure and innocent women and children. He said India had used the April 22 terrorist attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) Pahalgam as a pretext to launch the attack inside Pakistan. Following the Pahalgam incident, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered publicly to India that Pakistan was ready to be part of any impartial international investigation into this attack. “We did so because we were confident, our hands were clean and we had nothing to do with this terrorist attack. “We expressed our sympathy with the victims of terrorism and Pakistan has consistently and unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he said, adding that PM Sharif had immediately expressed Pakistan’s willingness to India and the global community to be part of any impartial international investigation. “Indian government refused Pakistan's offer and chose instead to conduct their illegal strikes. Pakistan only then acted in self-defence, we never initiated any violence against India,” Bilawal said. Bilawal emphasised that Pakistan never initiated hostilities against India but responded to Indian aggression by downing six Indian fighter jets. "The Pakistani military had responded with precision the night of the first Indian attack and only targeted and downed six planes because we believed those were the ones to release their load on Pakistan”. He stated that US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio played a vital role in achieving a ceasefire during heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours. “We’ve seen during the course of this conflict how quickly the escalation ladder between our two countries rose and the concern is that the next time there is such an incident, there may not be time for the international community to intervene before things get a lot worse. That is why it is absolutely important for Pakistan and the international community to continue to pursue dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable path to peace.” He said Pakistan’s position was to hold a “comprehensive dialogue” with India that would include the issue of terrorism as well. The head of the Pakistani delegation said that no civilized nation can support the use of water as a weapon and urged the international community to play its part, questioning, "What would be the global reaction if someone’s lifeline was cut off?" He stressed that Pakistan has paid a heavy price in the fight against terrorism and has suffered the most. “The single largest number of terrorist attacks that take place in any one country is Pakistan. The single largest number of victims of terrorism is Pakistan. I myself have suffered at the hands of terrorists. My mother [Benazir Bhutto] was assassinated by the terrorists.” Bilawal also criticised India for targeting water reservoirs and civilian areas, including mosques, during its attacks. Calling negotiations the only path to peace, Bilawal reiterated that the unresolved Kashmir dispute remains the root cause of regional instability. He urged the global community to take notice of India’s aggressive conduct.](https://wenewsenglish.com/storage/2025/06/Bilawal-Bhutto-Zardari-300x180.jpg)
