Javaid Ahmad

By Javaid Ahmad

This year, China and Kuwait are going to celebrate their 50th year of strong bilateral diplomatic relations. The history of their successful mutual and strong diplomatic relations has far-reaching success stories in the areas of politics, economics, and cultural diplomacy. Kuwait was the first Gulf country who has recognized and established diplomatic relationships with China back in 1971.

Since then, both China and Kuwait have established bilateral relationships and had signed several bilateral trade and other agreements. Kuwait in this region is the first country who has signed the historical Belt and Road project with China. Apart from that, Kuwait is being considered an important strategic partner of China in this region. China has practically demonstrated this, during the 1990 Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait.

Kuwait's late Amir His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah had visited China in 2009 and 2018 and signed several bilateral agreements during his total of seven trips to China. This demonstrates the strong nature of a continuous bilateral relationship between the two countries. This year, the members of the political bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Director of Foreign Minister Office China have visited Kuwait.

Kuwait has also established its Kuwait Petroleum Corporation's first overseas office in China. Apart from that, Kuwait Investment Authority in its field of investment and cooperation has established its successful investment examples in China. Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) has also established its own office in China, while China's News Agency (Xinhua) has already a well-functioning office in Kuwait.

China and Kuwait have started bilateral trade in 1955 and until 2020, both countries have almost $14.5 billion in trade volume between them. China has exported $3.5 billion and imported $10.7 billion. As of today, China is one of the biggest trade partners of Kuwait in the non-oil sector trade. China has invested $1.1 billion while Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has invested in 40 projects and handed $1 billion in loans to China.

In addition, several Chinese companies are working in Kuwait in the sectors of energy, housing, and telecommunication. China's medical teams have earned huge respect in Kuwait and their visits can safely be named as health diplomacy. Recently, China's under-construction embassy building further cerements the strong bilateral relationship between the two countries.