China is moving closer to talks with the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) on the establishment of a free trade agreement (FTA),
which will strengthen economic ties, according to Faisal Al-Ghais,
Kuwait's ambassador to China.
Also the current chairman of the Council of GCC Ambassadors in
Beijing, Al-Ghais said that a delegation headed by the Kuwaiti
Minister of Finance Mahmoud Al-Nouri arrived in China Sunday. The
group will stay through Wednesday.
The delegation comprises finance ministers and other senior
officials from the six GCC nations: the United Arab Emirates,
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The group also
includes a team from the GCC Secretariat headed by
Secretary-General Abdulrahman Al-Atiyyah. Kuwait currently chairs
the council.
Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
will pay a state visit to China from today to next Monday.
"It will be a historic visit, which will surely comprehensively
promote bilateral trade and economic relations," Al-Ghais said.
The GCC delegation will meet with officials of the ministries of
commerce and finance.
China and the GCC will sign a comprehensive trade and economic
cooperation framework agreement during the visit, Al-Ghais said,
and begin negotiating a free trade pact.
The pact will include reducing tariffs, simplifying flows of
goods and facilitating mutual investments.
The FTA, if established, will improve economic integration
between China and the 23-year-old Gulf bloc.
The ambassador said he is confident that the GCC-China FTA will
be established, although he is uncertain about the exact
timetable.
"Both sides are practical. Each recognizes the importance of the
other," he said. "I don't see any reason for the negotiations not
to proceed very well and smoothly. We have already concluded such
FTA arrangements with other regions and are in process of
negotiating with others."
The negotiations could lead to China's second FTA with a
regional group, following its inking of a framework free trade
accord with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations last
year.
China is now in talks with a number of neighbors and major
economic powers on FTAs. Other possible partners include New
Zealand, Australia, Chile and South Africa.
The European Union and the United States are also talking with
the GCC about FTAs.
The Gulf regional organization wants to widen its relations with
China to all possible scopes of economic cooperation.
"We are not simply importers and exporters from each other,"
Al-Ghais said. For example, China and the GCC could strengthen
their cooperation in oil exploration and investments, which is in
the interest of both sides. "The GCC possesses 45 percent of world
oil reserves and accounts for 20 percent of all oil production in
the world. It is a secure and steady supplier," he said.
China is now talking with a number of global oil suppliers to
diversify its oil sources to feed a booming economy.
"We are prepared to satisfy China's energy needs," the
ambassador said.
Sino-GCC trade jumped to US$17 billion in 2003, an increase of
46 percent year on year, but China's share of the Gulf market is
less than 5 percent of the region's total.
"China is a newcomer to the Gulf market," Al-Ghais said, "but
there is more room for bilateral economic ties to grow in the
coming years."
(China Daily July 5, 2004)