In my previous article, I dealt with some of the political connotations of Xi Jinping’s article that preceded his historic visit to the UAE. I highlighted the pillars of the relations between the two countries.
In the current article, I will focus on how the Chinese leadership perceives its relations with partners worldwide. Accurate details of the relations between the two countries are the essence of this article. It is a review of the information that skipped the overall coverage of the UAE media. Official statements also missed clear reflection on China’s interest in all the details of strategic relations with the UAE. This interest is a sign that we are dealing with a serious and responsible international partner. China is a good reader of the details and does not miss development that can influence decision-making and the path of vital relations with strategic partners.
The article of the Chinese president cited the most important elements of the economic partnership. Reviewing energy cooperation was an embodiment of the importance of energy in the Chinese leadership’s calculations. Xi pointed out that cooperation between the UAE and China in this field reached the highest levels. He stated that: “In 2017, the UAE awarded Chinese companies a combined 12 percent stakes in Abu Dhabi’s onshore oil concession, the first time for China to acquire stakes in upstream cooperation in an oil-producing country in the Middle East. In March 2018, the UAE awarded a Chinese entity another 10 percent stake in each of the two offshore concessions in Abu Dhabi.”
Xi focused on the most important pillars of this partnership. Maritime transport was one of the pillars of the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s 21st Century strategic plan. The article mentioned that the industrial capacity cooperation has made historic progress. It pointed out the Khalifa Port Container Terminal Two, a jointly built and operated by Chinese and UAE companies with a designed annual capacity of 2.4 million TEUs in the first quarter of 2019. The China-UAE cooperation model has smoothly advanced in production capacity within the industrial zone around the Khalifa Port. “As things stand now, 16 enterprises have signed letters of intent with a committed investment of 6.4 billion Yuan,” wrote Xi.
The article also stated that new and high technology cooperation is on the rise. The 700-MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), a China-UAE joint project, is under construction in Dubai. It is the world’s largest and most advanced photovoltaic station. It will be the first investment of Silk Road Fund and the first coal-fired photovoltaic station in the Middle East.
The article also discussed the aspects of financial cooperation and referred to reaching cultural exchange through tourism. It pointed out that the UAE has become the first stop for Chinese tourists traveling to Arab destinations in the Middle East. In 2017, the number of Chinese tourists arrivals in the UAE exceeded the mark of one million and about 3.5 million Chinese tourists transited through the UAE. The UAE Youth Ambassadors program has organized six China tours for over 100 young people from the UAE. The Chinese Imperial Palace Museum is holding a discussion with the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum about an exhibition of monuments.
