KUWAIT: The
Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the State of Kuwait Li Minggang
released the following statement on the occasion of the first anniversary of
the visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to
China.

In July 2018, His
Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah paid a
state visit to China and attended the opening ceremony of the 8th Ministerial
Meeting of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum at the invitation of Chinese
President Xi Jinping. This is the seventh time that His Highness visited China,
and also the first time he visited China in nine years, which has played an
important role in reviewing the China-Kuwait relations in the past and paving
the way for the future.

During the visit,
President Xi held talks with His Highness the Amir. The two leaders agreed to
establish strategic partnership between the two countries, and reached
important consensus on enhancing pragmatic cooperation in various fields and
witnessed the signing of several documents of bilateral cooperation.

As the
head-of-state diplomacy has always been an important driving force for the
rapid development of the relations between the two countries, the talks between
President Xi and His Highness the Amir have charted a plan and direction for
the development of the China-Kuwait relations in the new era,  have opened new horizons for both countries,
like a beacon which guides and ensures the development of the bilateral
relations in terms of depth from a higher level and leads the bilateral
cooperation in building the 'belt and the road' to more outcomes.

During the past
year after the visit, both the Chinese and the Kuwaiti sides consider the
implementation of the consensus of the two countries' leaders as a primary goal
of promoting the bilateral relations. President Xi and His Highness the Amir
exchanged many messages, stressing the need to further strengthen the synergy between
the development strategies of the two countries and to deepen pragmatic
cooperation. In December last year, the envoy of His Highness the Amir, First
Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad
Al-Sabah visited China and discussed with the Chinese side in particular the
ways to implement the results of His Highness's visit to China.

The Kuwaiti
Council of Ministers established a special committee to follow up the
implementation process. In February this year, Vice Chairman of the National
Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China Ning Jizhe
visited Kuwait and chaired the first meeting of the Steering Committee for
China-Kuwait Cooperation in the construction of 'Silk City and the Five
Islands,' where they exchanged in-depth views mainly on China-Kuwait
cooperation in the construction of the 'Belt and Road' and 'Silk City and the
Five Islands.'

During the second
session of the 'Belt and Road' Forum for International Cooperation held in
April this year, the Kuwaiti side signed memorandums of understanding with the
China Development Bank and the China Association of City Planning, reflecting a
new development achieved by the two countries in pragmatic cooperation under
the framework of jointly building the 'Belt and Road.' In addition, the
relevant authorities of both sides are actively working on the implementation
of the other cooperation documents signed during the visit of His Highness the
Amir concerning economy, trade, investment, smart city and other fields,
pushing forward the cooperation in a stable manner.

Reviewing of the
development of the China-Kuwait relations in the past one year shows that the
bilateral cooperation in various fields has succeeded in achieving remarkable
results, including the continuous deepening of mutual political trust between
the two countries, and the constant support of the fundamental interests of
both sides as well as in international forums. In addition, the two sides have
not stopped expanding their cooperation in the areas of energy, infrastructure,
finance, trade, investment and others.

In 2018,
bilateral trade between China and Kuwait had totaled 18.7 billion dollars, with
an increase of 55.1 percent from the previous year. China remains Kuwait's largest
source of imports, and second largest export destination and Kuwait's largest
trading partner in non-oil fields. Kuwait is China's ninth largest oil
exporter.

China imported
23.21 million tons of crude oil from Kuwait, with an increase of 27.2 percent
year-on-year, with a total value of $ 11.9 billion dollars with an increase of
68.48 percent year-on-year. By the end of 2018, the total number of projects
that Chinese companies in Kuwait was 120 worth almost 21.5 billion dollars. In
the conditions of harsh nature, Chinese builders, with their hard work and
outstanding skills, are offering Kuwaiti society the exceptional competence
inherent in 'Built by China' and making great contributions to advancing
Kuwait's development.

In order to bring
the two peoples closer together, we have worked together with the local Kuwaiti
authorities to send many Chinese cultural delegations to visit Kuwait for
culture exchange, enhanced mutual understanding and friendship between the
peoples of the two countries. At present, the work to complete the
establishment of the Chinese Culture Center is under way on a regular basis,
and the two governments are intensively coordinating on mutual visa procedures
to achieve the facilitation of exchange visits between the two peoples. We hope
that our Kuwaiti friends will be able to feel and know China more deeply and
become a witness, participant and beneficiary of friendship and cooperation
between China and Kuwait.

The friendly
exchange between China and Kuwait has always been a model for exchange between
China and other countries in the region. With the growing instability and
ambiguity in international relations and the current situation in the region,
the stable and right development of China-Kuwait strategic partnership has not
only been a new driving force in promoting peace and development in the region,
but also provided new energy to shape a community of shared future for China
and all Arab countries and advance the reform of the global administrative
system and build a community of shared future for mankind.

In the future, we
will work harder together with the Kuwaiti side to implement the consensus
reached by the leaders of the two countries, further strengthen the strategic
partnership between China and Kuwait and push forward pragmatic cooperation in
all fields under the framework of cooperation in building the 'Belt and Road,'
in order to achieve more results and bring more benefits to the two countries
and peoples and jointly write a new chapter of friendship and cooperation.