( Last Update: 2011/08/22)

The friendly and cooperative relations between the People's Republic of China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) developed rapidly and mutually beneficial cooperation in all fields kept deepening in 2010

The two countries maintained the sound momentum of high-level exchanges and consolidated their political mutual trust. In September, NPC Vice Chairman Li Jianguo visited the UAE. During the visit, he met with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Hahyan and held talks with Chairman of the Federal National Council Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al-Ghurair. In October, State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu visited the UAE and held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. In November, General Xu Caihou, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited the UAE. During his visit, he met respectively with Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces Mohammed and had talks with Chief of Staff of UAE Armed Forces Hamad Mohammed Thani Al Rumaithi. In November, Zhang Gaoli, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC Municipal Committee of Tianjin , visited the UAE. He met respectively with Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Hahyan and had talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan came to China in May to attend the fourth Ministerial Conference of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum and paid an official visit to China in October, during which he met with Vice President Xi Jinping. In June, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Anwar Mohammed Qarqash visited China to attend the first strategic dialogue between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council

The two countries had frequent exchanges between local governments and in other fields. Secretary of the CPC Provincial Committee of Hunan Zhang Chunxian, Minister of State Forestry Administration Jia Zhibang, Minister of Railway Liu Zhijun, Chairman of the Board of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Jiang Jianqing, General Manager and Secretary of CPC Committee of PetroChina Jiang Jiemin, Vice Commissioner of the General Customs Sun Songpu, Vice Minister of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council Ma Rupei and Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Compatriots and Overseas Chinese of the CPPCC National Committee Lin Zhaoshu visited the UAE. In September, Minister of Energy Mohammed bin Dha'en Al Hamli came to China to attend the Summer Davos Forum held in Tianjin. In November, President of UAE National Olympic Committee visited China to attend the opening ceremony of the Guangzhou Asian Games

Bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, energy and finance developed rapidly. The UAE has for years been China's largest export market in West Asia and North Africa and the second largest trading partner in the Arab world. It is also a hub for Chinese exports to the Middle East and Africa. The construction of crude oil pipelines undertaken by CNPC in Abu Dhabi was basically completed. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China opened a branch in the UAE in 2010

People-to-people exchanges were dynamic and cooperation in culture and education was fruitful between the two countries. The national pavilion of the UAE at the Shanghai World Expo was quite popular and received over 1.8 million visitors. The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority opened an office in Beijing and an increasing number of Chinese tourists visited the UAE. The teaching at the Abu Dhabi School of Chinese Language went well. Confucius Institutes jointly built respectively by Beijing University of Foreign Studies and Zayed University and by Ningxia University and Dubai University both opened courses