China is willing to make concerted efforts with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to consolidate cooperation and push forward bilateral ties to a higher level, a visiting senior Chinese official said Wednesday.
He Guoqiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC, made the remarks here during a meeting with UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
"The friendship between the two peoples of China and the UAE goes back to ancient times," said He, who firstly conveyed Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's cordial greetings to Sheikh Mohammed.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 27 years ago, the two sides have realized mutual political trust, economic mutual beneficial and win-win outcomes, and distinctive people-to- people and cultural exchanges, he added.
The Chinese official said that on a number of important international and regional affairs, the two countries share same or similar stands and maintain sound communication and coordination.
The Chinese party and government, which always view the relationship with the UAE from a strategic and long-term perspective, are ready to work with the Gulf nation to boost bilateral ties, He said.
As for the field of economy and trade, he said the two countries' cooperation has yielded fruitful results and offers huge potential, with two-way trade volume surpassing 25 billion U. S. dollars last year.
The UAE has become China's largest export market and second largest trade partner in the Arab world, He noted.
"The Chinese side is willing to further expand areas for its cooperation with the UAE and enhance the two countries' cooperation in such fields as energy sources, finance, telecommunications, railway and project contracting," he said.
For his part, Sheikh Mohammed asked He to convey his greetings to Premier Wen.
Relations between the UAE and China have developed soundly, with continuously strengthening mutual political trust, increasingly closer economic and trade exchanges, and in-depth progress of exchanges in various fields, he said.
Sheikh Mohammed expressed admiration for the achievements made by China under the leadership of the CPC, saying the UAE is ready to establish a closer cooperative relationship with China to better serve the two countries' common interests.
After the meeting, He attended a signing ceremony of relevant agreements for cooperation between China and the UAE.
He arrived in Dubai late Tuesday for an official visit to the UAE, the fourth leg of his five-nation tour which has already taken him to France, Poland and Serbia and will also take him to Iran.