From May 23 to 24, the China-GCC Industrial and Investment Cooperation Forum will be held in Xiamen, Fujian Province, with the theme of "Facing the Future and Working Together to Promote high-quality Development of Industrial and Investment Cooperation between China and GCC countries".

Fujian, the core maritime silk zone of the 21st century, has a long history and profound economic and trade exchanges with Arab countries; The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) is an important cooperative partner of China in the Middle East and a good example of cooperation between China and other developing countries. What kind of sparks will emerge when the two sides come together?

In recent days, guests for the forum have arrived in Xiamen one after another. A good story between Fujian and the GCC countries has been recalled once again.

In the 1980s, Xiamen Airport became the first airport in China to be built with the help of foreign loans. Funds for its construction and expansion came from the Kuwaiti government. Today, the airport handles more than 27 million passengers a year, making it one of the busiest single-runway airports in China.

In October last year, Xiamen Airlines officially launched regular routes between Beijing Daxing and Xiamen-Doha, becoming the first Chinese airline to operate flights to Doha in close cooperation with Qatar Airways, bringing China and Arab countries, which "have known each other on the Ancient Silk Road", closer together.

"There is no need to translate, I graduated from Xiamen University." This opening line in a speech by Saudi Arabia's Vice Minister of Investment, Celor Ali Habti, who attended the 23rd China International Fair for Investment and Trade last year, made a lot of fans. He said that as one of Saudi Arabia's earliest investment partners, China's importance has become more prominent, and Saudi Arabia hopes to strengthen cooperation with China in the capital market and industry.

Saudi Arabia is the main source of GCC countries' investment projects in Fujian. In recent years, Saudi companies have been behind a number of major energy projects in Fujian. In particular, in February this year, the Zhongsha Gulei ethylene project, a cooperation between SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corporation) and Fujian Energy and Petrochemical Group, broke ground in Gulei, Zhangzhou.

The chemical project, which lasted 7 years from the signing of the memorandum of understanding on joint venture cooperation to the full construction, has an investment of 44.8 billion yuan, which is the largest Sino-foreign joint venture project with one-time investment in Fujian Province so far. It is expected to be completed in 2026, and the ethylene production capacity can reach 1.8 million tons per year. After the completion of the project, it will not only meet the market and customer demand for high-end chemical products, but also drive the downstream of the industrial chain to create more investment opportunities.

The root of the project is a high degree of complementarity, China has a vast consumer market, complete industrial system; China is rich in energy resources and enjoys booming economic diversification. We are natural partners of cooperation.

The long geographical distance cannot stop the warm economic and trade ties between the two sides.

More and more Fujian enterprises are participating in the two-way rush -- in March this year, NetDragon and the Ministry of Education of Saudi Arabia reached an agreement that the two sides will jointly explore and evaluate innovative educational technology solutions provided by NetDragon to improve the quality and accessibility of education in the country; About 600,000 terminal devices have been shipped within three years, and New World Payment Technology Co., Ltd. has a payment market share of more than 30% in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries; Showing its own brand, Ruijie Network in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia was established last year to provide market and operational support for key industries and channels such as government, enterprise and education...

Statistics show that in terms of two-way trade, the total import and export volume of Fujian Province and the six GCC countries in 2023 was 102.36 billion yuan, accounting for 5.1% of China's trade volume with the GCC, ranking sixth in China. Fujian exports clothing, mechanical and electrical products, footwear, textiles, stone and products to GCC countries, while importing commodities such as petroleum and crude oil, organic chemicals, primary plastics, natural gas, marble and travertine.

In terms of two-way investment, by the end of 2023, all the six GCC countries had invested in Fujian, with a total of 33 projects with an actual investment of 770 million US dollars. Fujian has registered (approved) 45 investment projects with GCC countries, with a total agreed investment of US $121 million, mainly engaged in ceramic tile production, stone processing, sales of building materials, sales of refrigeration equipment, Marine fishing, general trade and other businesses.

This forum will consolidate and expand cooperation between China and GCC countries in energy and petrochemicals, connectivity, digital economy, financial services and other fields. Having benefited from the hosting of the Forum, Fujian will continue its tradition of friendship, enrich cooperation, and deepen and deepen economic and trade cooperation with GCC countries. (Reporter Zheng Huang)

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