BEIJING: Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, arrived in Beijing to begin an official visit to China that runs from April 12 to April 14, with both sides framing the trip as a step to deepen bilateral relations and expand cooperation across priority sectors. China’s foreign ministry said the visit is taking place at the invitation of Premier Li Qiang, while Abu Dhabi said it is intended to strengthen the countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership.
Sheikh Khaled was accompanied by a senior delegation that included Sheikh Zayed bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Special Envoy to China Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Industry and Advanced Technology Minister Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Investment Minister Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi and Foreign Trade Minister Thani Al Zeyoudi, alongside other senior officials. The delegation brought together portfolios spanning investment, industry, trade, diplomacy and institutional coordination between Abu Dhabi and Beijing.
The visit comes as the UAE and China continue to build on a relationship that both governments have steadily elevated over the past decade. The two countries marked 40 years of diplomatic relations in 2024, and the UAE embassy in Beijing says ties reached the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership during President Xi Jinping’s 2018 visit to the Emirates. Official UAE statements ahead of the trip described the visit as part of a broader effort to advance long-standing ties and support development and economic cooperation.
Trade and investment links
China has remained the UAE’s top global trading partner, while the UAE has retained its place as China’s largest trading partner in the Middle East and North Africa, according to recent UAE economy ministry statements. Those statements said non-oil trade between the two countries reached around $90 billion in 2024. In the first half of 2025, non-oil trade rose 15.6% from a year earlier to nearly $50 billion, extending a commercial relationship that spans energy, logistics, manufacturing, consumer markets and re-export activity.
The business footprint has expanded alongside those trade flows. UAE officials said that by the end of July 2025, nearly 16,500 Chinese trade licenses were active in the UAE, an increase of more than 18% from the same period a year earlier, while the number of Chinese trade agencies operating in the country reached 533. Recent bilateral economic contacts have highlighted sectors including new economy industries, entrepreneurship, tourism, clean energy, aviation, transport and logistics, alongside traditional trade and energy links.
Broader cooperation agenda
That widening agenda has been reflected in official mechanisms between the two governments. At the eighth meeting of their Joint Economic, Trade and Technical Committee in February 2024, the UAE and China agreed to strengthen collaboration in areas including technology, circular economy activity, aviation and logistics transport. Other official exchanges in 2025 focused on manufacturing, investment, tourism and regional commercial links. Those exchanges tracked many of the same sectors cited by both sides around Sheikh Khaled’s visit.
Sheikh Khaled’s Beijing visit places that framework at the center of a high-level diplomatic engagement led from Abu Dhabi and backed by ministers responsible for some of the UAE’s biggest trade, investment and industrial portfolios. The trip is scheduled to continue through April 14 and follows a series of official exchanges that have deepened links in commerce, technology, energy and transport. It also highlights the breadth of a bilateral relationship that now spans diplomacy, trade, industry and institutional cooperation. – By Content Syndication Services.