Kuwait and China will deepen cooperation in the energy industries and study ways of joint exploration of both upstream and downstream industries, visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday, after his meeting with Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. He called on both sides to expand cooperation on infrastructure and telecommunication, increase contacts of people, and promote exchanges in the areas of finance, agriculture, science and technology and culture, in a bid to jointly respond to the change of global economic environment. Li also said China always sees its relations from a strategic perspective with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and its six members, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. China is willing to further high-level visits, enhance political mutual trust, broaden substantial cooperation and promote peace and stability in the Gulf region, Li said. Nasser said Kuwait and China have witnessed a strong growth of bilateral trade volume this year, and taken a big step in energy cooperation. Citing the current global financial crisis, he pledged that Kuwait is ready to further enhance cooperation with China in various fields. The Kuwaiti prime minister added that Kuwait welcomes Chinese products and enterprises to enter the Kuwaiti market to realize common development. The Chinese vice premier also visited oil facilities in Kuwait and met with major figures of the oil industry to get a better knowledge of the Gulf Arab state's oil industry and the progress of China-Kuwait energy cooperation. China and Kuwait renewed their record of bilateral trade volume in 2007 with $3.6 billion, according to official statistics, a 30 percent growth compared with that of 2006. China imported $2.3 billion worth of goods from Kuwait in 2007, with 90 percent of oil products, while only exporting $1.3 billion of goods to Kuwait.
