The UAE will play crucial role as China increases its presence in Arab region, says envoy

China's envoy to the UAE has said the Emirates has a key role to play as his country looks to increase its presence in the region.

Zhang Yiming, the Chinese ambassador to the UAE, said President Sheikh Mohamed’s recent state visit to China ushered in new avenues of co-operation with the Arab world.

Sheikh Mohamed met China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing last month to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Mr Yiming, who was part of the meetings in Beijing, spoke of a new starting point for China-UAE relations that would be the foundation for stronger ties with the wider Arab world.

“The UAE has a special and important influence in the Arab world and is a regional security oasis and development highland,” Mr Yiming told The National in an interview.

“As a witness of the meetings, I am very inspired and confident about the future of China-UAE relations.

“China-UAE bilateral co-operation is an important part of China-Arab collective co-operation. The two complement each other.”

He said China would work with the UAE to deepen co-operation in the region.

40th anniversary of relations between nations

The 40th year of friendship is being celebrated by both China and the UAE.

“China-UAE relations are comprehensive and in-depth, since the establishment of diplomatic relations 40 years ago,” Mr Yiming said.

“The bilateral relations have made great progress and will be at the forefront of China's relations with the Arab countries.”

The UAE is China’s largest trading partner in the Arab world with trade and investment across energy, logistics, tourism, technology, petrochemicals and space.

China is the UAE’s top trading partner with non-oil bilateral trade worth Dh264.2 billion ($72billion) in 2022.

The UAE is also the major destination for Chinese investment in the Arab world, with investment into the Emirates crossing $1.7 billion last year, accounting for 60 per cent of China’s total investment in the region.

UAE investment in China increased by 120 per cent last year – making up 90 per cent of Arab nations’ investment in China, according to official figures.

Mr Yiming said Sheikh Mohamed’s first state visit to China as the head of the UAE was a significant milestone in bilateral ties and marked “a journey of continuing friendship, deepening co-operation and opening up the future”.

“During the visit, President Xi Jinping met with President [Sheikh] Mohamed many times, comprehensively reviewing and summarising the glorious development history and valuable experience of China-UAE relations over the past 40 years,” he said.

“They looked forward to the bright vision of the next golden 40 years and discussed promoting the comprehensive development of China-UAE relations from a new starting point.”

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the China-Arab States Co-operation Forum.

The ambassador said Mr Xi outlined his vision during an address before the forum where he laid out “a grand blueprint for China-Arab collective co-operation in the new era and injecting strong impetus into accelerating the construction of a closer China-Arab community with a shared future”.

Sheikh Mohamed, along with Mr Xi and the heads of state of Bahrain, Egypt and Tunisia spoke at the opening ceremony of the conference last month in Beijing.

Relations between the UAE and China pre-date the establishment of official diplomatic ties in 1984, with Beijing recognising the formation of the Emirates in 1971.

UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan visited China in 1990.

President Xi visited the UAE in 2018 after which the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was declared.

The UAE is also a strategic partner in China’s Belt and Road initiative and will serve as a key gateway to the Middle East region.