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)