Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for Arab States Dr. Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf has highlighted the importance of enhancing GCC-Chinese relations to serve joint interests. Dr. Al-Hajraf made his remarks on the occasion of his official visit to China upon an invitation from Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The secretary general expressed aspirations that the visit will contribute to enhancing GCC-Chinese relations, and discussing cooperation aspects in fields of joint interests in light of the framework agreement for economic, investment and technical cooperation signed between the GCC and China in June 2004 in Beijing, as well as the memorandum of understanding both sides signed in 2010. He also said that the visit constitutes an opportunity to review the GCC-Chinese cooperation aspects and further enhance friendship and cooperation relations in a way that serves joint interests and boosts security and stability, in addition to going through the free trade negotiation file between the GCC and China, as well as preparing for the 10th negotiation stage and enhance bilateral opportunities in joint fields, especially that China is the first commercial partner to the GCC.
