Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah stressed that his country intends to form a strategic partnership with China, calling on Beijing to play an effective role in helping confront the major challenges faced by the Arab Gulf region. He had arrived in Beijing on Saturday where he was the guest of honor at the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum that kicked off Sunday. Sheikh Sabah had traveled to China to attend the 8th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in Beijing that will get underway on Tuesday. The event will be attended by President Xi Jinping, representatives of 21 Arab states and secretary general of the Arab League Ahmed Abul Gheit. The ministerial meeting will issue numerous decisions and recommendations and witness the signing of the Beijing Declaration, 2018-2020 executive program and the Arab-Chinese executive announcement related to Silk Road initiative. In an interview with Chinese Xinhua News Agency, the Emir of Kuwait said “We encourage the Chinese business and financial institutions to operate in Kuwait.” Sheikh Sabah expected China to play a supportive role in creating a joint economic platform that achieves commercial trade based on mutual interest among all states in the northern Gulf region. He continued that the region and world are facing dangerous security, economic and political challenges, urging China to provide assistance in helping overcome them. More than 40 Chinese companies are currently operating in Kuwait with about 80 projects in progress in the oil, infrastructure, communications and banking sectors.