Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Thursday arrived in Abu Dhabi for a three-day visit, after the announcement of oil and trade deals between China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said he was “delighted” to welcome Xi, posting photos on Twitter of him receiving flowers on landing in the emirate.
“This is a historic visit and represents a new stage of cooperation in all fields, which will bring growth, development and prosperity to the people of our nations,” said the crown prince of the UAE capital.
Photo: AFP
Abu Dhabi is the first stop for the Chinese president on a tour that also includes Senegal, Rwanda and South Africa.
Xi’s arrival followed the Gulf state earlier on Thursday publishing details of new deals clinched with Beijing.
State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) said it had awarded two contracts worth US$1.6 billion to BGP Inc, a subsidiary of state-run China National Petroleum Co (CNPC), for a seismic survey in the emirate.
The survey is to search for oil and gas in onshore and offshore sites covering an area of 53,000km2, the statement said.
CNPC already has two concession rights contracts with ADNOC worth about US$3 billion.
The UAE’s state-owned DP World also announced an agreement by the two countries to build a trade zone in Dubai.
The deal between the global port operator and the Zhejiang China Commodities City Group is to have a “traders’ market” built at Dubai’s Jebel Ali free zone.
The project is part of China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious plan to revive the ancient Silk Road trading routes with a global network of ports, roads and railways.
The new facility is to cover 3km2 at the Jebel Ali site, which is the Middle East’s largest trade zone, DP World said in a statement.
The market is to host a vast range of goods from food and cosmetics to building materials and technology.
DP World, which operates in 40 countries, did not announce the value of the deal or provide a time frame for its construction.
China is the UAE’s top trading partner, with non-oil trade last year rising 15 percent year-on-year to more than US$53.3 billion — more than 90 percent of it Chinese exports to the country, the UAE Ministry of Finance said.
The UAE is also one of the top 15 crude suppliers to China, exporting about US$4 billion worth of oil to Beijing last year. Ninety-six percent of the country’s oil reserves are located in Abu Dhabi.
In a further sign of strengthening ties between the two countries, Dubai-based real-estate developer Emaar Properties on Wednesday announced plans to build the Middle East’s largest Chinatown in the UAE.
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