Hu Hanming

As the Counselor of Economic and Commercial Affairs in Kuwait, can you describe the bilateral trade between China and Kuwait in the past five years?

I would like to use the phrase ‘steady development’ to describe the economic and trade relations between China and Kuwait in the past five years.

Since establishing strategic partnership in 2018, the relationship between China and Kuwait has been on the track of rapid development.

Especially in December 2022 and September 2023, President Xi Jinping and His Highness the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah, who was then the Crown Prince, met twice in less than one year, and the economic and trade relationship between China and Kuwait entered a new stage where much more can be accomplished.

In terms of trade, China has maintained its position as Kuwait‘s largest trading partner in the past five years. The total bilateral trade volume exceeded USD30 billion in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 42.3%. And that volume is maintaining a high level of USD22.39 billion in 2023, with Kuwait‘s total imports from China increasing by 7.3%.

At present, Kuwait is China‘s ninth largest source of crude oil imports, and China is Kuwait‘s largest crude oil export destination. China‘s steel, electrical equipment and many other products have strongly supported the construction of Kuwait‘s large-scale projects.

Chinese cars and mobile phones are widely praised in the Kuwaiti market. The high-quality and affordable Chinese products have brought benefits to the local people too.

In terms of investment, according to the statistics from the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA), the total direct investment of Chinese companies in Kuwait is about USD554 million as of March 2023, which shows an increase of more than 20 times compared to 2018. 

China has also jumped from 11th in 2018 to 2nd in the ranking of foreign investment sources in Kuwait. Chinese companies such as Huawei and China State Construction Engineering Corp. have established wholly-owned subsidiaries in Kuwait.

In 2018, the first overseas office was established by the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) after Kuwait‘s independence was settled in Shanghai, China. In 2019, Kuwait‘s sovereign wealth fund invested USD200 million in the Jinan-Qingdao High-speed Railway, becoming the first foreign investment institution to invest in China‘s high-speed railway.

KIA also invested in many high-quality Chinese A-shares (mainland stock market) and H-shares (Hong Kong stocks) companies. NBK and other Kuwaiti agencies have also set up branches in China.

In terms of project contracting, Chinese companies have participated in several key projects under Kuwait Vision 2035 and landmark projects, covering energy, telecommunications, construction, transportation, housing, and other fields.

Sinopec Engineering Group has been strengthening its cooperation with Kuwaiti partners and has become an important oil and gas service company in the local market. The Central Bank of Kuwait’s (CBK) new headquarters, built by China State Construction Engineering Corp., is printed on Kuwait‘s new banknotes. Huawei actively participates in the construction of Kuwait‘s 5G network and facilities and has become a critical telecommunication equipment provider for Kuwait.

In 2023, China Gezhouba Group Corp. undertook the Kuwait South Saad Al-Abdullah City Housing Project, which is the largest construction project in Kuwait in recent years.

What are the main sectors that China is interested in developing and investing in within Kuwait?

The economies of China and Kuwait are highly complementary, providing broad development space for bilateral practical cooperation. So far, China and Kuwait have in-depth cooperation in many fields, including traditional industries such as oil and gas, electricity and construction, as well as emerging fields such as digital communications, e-commerce, and soil remediation.

In September 2023, President Xi Jinping met with His Highness the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah, who was then the Crown Prince, and expressed China‘s willingness to deepen the docking of development strategies with Kuwait and strengthen cooperation in investment, energy, infrastructure, environmental governance, digital economy, and other fields. 

The two leaders witnessed the signing of a five-year bilateral cooperation plan and a number of bilateral cooperation agreements in the fields of renewable energy, infrastructure construction and environmental governance, etc.

The relevant parties from both China and Kuwait communicate intensively and work together to continuously implement the important consensus reached between the two leaders at the meeting, promote the implementation of relevant bilateral cooperation documents, and strive to achieve early harvests.

Both countries guide and support more Chinese and Kuwaiti enterprises to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation, participate in development investment in relevant key areas, and enhance the level of cooperation in the industrial and supply chains.

How do you envision China‘s role in Kuwait Vision 2035?

I noticed that Kuwait Vision 2035 has three main aspirations, eight strategic developmental goals and seven pillars, covering all aspects of economic and social development, such as enhancing economic vitality, encouraging reform and innovation, improving infrastructure, strengthening international cooperation, and improving people‘s livelihood and welfare.

The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China is guided by the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits. China and Kuwait‘s joint construction of the Belt and Road is beneficial to Kuwait‘s realization of the Kuwait Vision 2035. 

Over the past ten years since China and Kuwait signed the Belt and Road cooperation document, bilateral cooperation has achieved fruitful results across various fields. 

I believe that the potential of China-Kuwait economic and trade cooperation will be further explored with the in-depth docking of the Belt and Road Initiative and Kuwait Vision 2035.

I think that the following aspects may be focused on:

• Strengthening policy coordination. To implement the important consensus of the leaders of the two countries, and to promote the five-year plan for bilateral cooperation and cooperation agreements in key areas. To draw the largest ‘concentric circle of strategic mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Kuwait, via consolidating and deepening communication and exchanges in all fields and at all levels through multiple and bilateral platforms.
• Improving facilities connectivity. To support the two countries‘ enterprises to deepen cooperation in energy, communications, digital economy, and other fields. To strengthen the bilateral ‘hard connectivity’ of infrastructure such as railways, roads, ports, and networks, as well as promote ’soft connectivity’ in terms of rules, standards, and technologies.
• Accelerating unimpeded trade. To give full play to the role of the Joint Economic and Trade Committee and other mechanisms to further enhance the level of investment and trade facilitation. To promote the early completion of the China-GCC Free Trade Agreement negotiations and the establishment of the China-GCC Free Trade Zone, and to encourage enterprises from both sides to actively participate in exhibitions held by the two countries.
• Deepening financial integration. To continue deepening cooperation in the financial field, to innovate forms of financial cooperation, to support UnionPay‘s docking development in Kuwait, to explore monetary cooperation. All these may also provide stronger support for cooperation in other fields.
• Increasing people-to-people bonds. To further strengthen mutual learning between civilizations, expand cooperation in the fields of health, culture, and tourism, and to better facilitate personnel exchanges between the two countries.

Can you describe the development of Chinese companies in Kuwait? Do you think the number will increase?

Chinese enterprises participated in the Kuwaiti market as early as the 1970s and made contributions to the firefighting and reconstruction of Kuwait‘s oil wells after the Gulf War. It can be said that the cooperation between the Chinese and Kuwaiti industries has gone through the test of ‘fierce fire’.

At present, Chinese enterprises are developing well in Kuwait, and dozens of them have undertaken contracting projects and been doing business here. 

As mentioned earlier, the business scope of Chinese enterprises in Kuwait covers oil and gas, construction, electricity, finance, trade, telecommunications, soil remediation, e-commerce, and other fields.

Chinese enterprises have undertaken a series of landmark projects of Kuwait Vision 2035, supplied many Chinese high-quality raw materials, industrial products, consumer products, etc., to the Kuwaiti market, and have made positive contributions to Kuwait‘s economic and social development. Over decades of development, Chinese enterprises have been continuously polishing the Chinese brand in the Kuwaiti market, establishing an impression of ‘high efficiency, good quality and credibility,’ and have received unanimous praise from all walks of life in Kuwait.

With joint efforts to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of both countries, more and more Chinese enterprises are setting their sights on Kuwait. I obviously feel the increase of Chinese enterprises enquiring about the Kuwaiti market and visiting Kuwait. I believe that these Chinese enterprises will bring more abundant products and more diverse services to the Kuwaiti market.

One thing that could improve the Kuwaiti business environment is...

The business environment is indeed a factor that market players attach great importance to when making business decisions and improving the business environment is also a never-ending process.

When meeting with His Highness the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah in Hangzhou, China in September 2023, President Xi Jinping expressed the hope that Kuwait would continue to provide a fair, transparent, and nondiscriminatory market environment for Chinese companies to invest in Kuwait.

I understand that Kuwait has been continuously promoting economic diversification and sustainable development and has taken a series of measures to optimize the business environment, such as abolishing the agency system and restarting family visas. We believe that with His Highness the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah‘s determination to reform and the joint efforts of all sectors, Kuwait‘s business environment will become better and better.

As Kuwait pushes its economy beyond the oil and gas sector, what are the upcoming sectors that you feel would be an ideal playground for Chinese companies in Kuwait?

As for the future cooperation areas between China and Kuwait, I have elaborated a lot. As Kuwait continues promoting the green innovation transformation of the economy and promoting diversified development, the future economic and trade cooperation between China and Kuwait faces broad prospects.

We also noticed that the industries of both sides have actively explored the economic complementary advantages of the two countries.

We respect market forces and entrepreneurial wisdom and will do our best to provide relevant services.

We will work together with all sectors to promote the high-quality development of China-Kuwait economic and trade cooperation in an all-round, multi-level and wide-ranging manner in the new era, so as to input more vitality to the sustainable economic development of the Gulf region and the recovery of the world economy