China vowed yesterday to further its pragmatic cooperation with Kuwait in the various fields in a bid to step up the bilateral relations to a higher level.

In his meeting with Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang called on the two sides to promote high-level exchange based on equality and mutual benefit, political mutual trust as well as cooperation on trade.

China highly values its ties with Kuwait and the two nations have offered mutual understanding and support on issues with the irrespective key concern, Li said.

Li also said that China is ready to strengthen cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) which plays a very important role in the Gulf region.

The dialogue mechanism with GCC would launch next year and the negotiation on a free trade area has entered into a critical phase, Li said, expressing his belief that Kuwait would continue to play a significant role to boost China-GCC relationship.

Echoing Li's views, Emir Al-Sabah highlighted the growth of cooperation between the two nations such as economics and trade, promising that the country would continue to push forward the bilateral relations.

Emir Al-Sabah also expressed his appreciation to China's efforts on the Middle East issue and willingness to, as a GCC member, work with China to safeguard the regional peace and stability.

Li pays the visit to Kuwait at the invitation of Kuwaiti First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Jaber MubarakAl-Hamad Al-Sabah.

Kuwait is the final leg of Li's 11-day overseas visit, his first foreign visit since he took office as vice premier in March, which has already taken him to Indonesia and Egypt.

According to official statistics, China and Kuwait renewed their record of bilateral trade volume in 2007 with US$3.6 billion, a 30 percent growth compared with that of 2006.

China imported US$2.3 billion worth of goods from Kuwait in 2007, with 90 percent of oil products, while only exporting US$1.3 billion of goods to Kuwait.