A partnership through thick and thin — and primed to grow

There is a Chinese saying that sums up the partnership between the United Arab Emirates and China."A long road tests a horse's strength; time reveals a person's heart." In other words, the strongest partnerships take time to build, are tested by distance and are reinforced by results. The UAE and China have been building ours for more than 40 years, through every market cycle.

Last year, non-oil trade between our two countries crossed 800 billion yuan ($118 billion) for the first time, growing by nearly a quarter in a single year, making China the UAE's largest trading partner, and the UAE China's largest partner in the Middle East and Africa.

In April, His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, led a senior UAE delegation to Beijing, where two dozen agreements were signed across the sectors of energy, technology, finance and infrastructure.

Recently, I visited Shanghai to help keep the positive momentum going and turn shared ambition into commercial reality, because a partnership this strong is not meant to stand still.

Both our countries align national purpose with economic growth through strategic clarity. China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) sets out a clear ambition — to translate advances in science and technology into substantial, people-centric progress.

The UAE is equally focused on building the economy of the future through artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and the energy that powers them. We see ourselves as a natural partner for that journey across the energy value chain that makes all progress possible.

UAE companies are building from a position of strength. China is Abu Dhabi National Oil Company's single largest customer for our cost and carbon-competitive crude and refined products. Chinese companies are among our most significant partners across our upstream concessions, downstream businesses and operating companies.

And through Masdar, our renewable energy champion, our collaboration goes beyond the barrel into new energies, where we partner across the wind, solar and the battery value chain.

Recently, we took our partnership deeper across four key pillars.

Regarding supply, during my recent visit, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company announced a new agreement to deliver an additional 134,000 barrels of crude per day to China, providing more of the dependable, competitively priced energy its economy runs on.

Backed by a $150 billion investment program, we are raising our crude production capacity to five million barrels a day by 2027, while continuing to invest in resilient routes to market. Our Murban crude is light, low in sulfur and among the lowest-carbon-intensity oil produced anywhere, and it reaches Chinese ports on one of the shortest voyages of any major supplier.

Regarding distribution, we have finalized an agreement to build four new next-generation gas vessels, in addition to two already under construction. Shanghai's shipyards are building the fleet of the future and together, we will help supply energy across the economies of the Belt and Road region.

As for petrochemicals, we are making progress on our joint venture with Borouge and Wanhua Chemical to develop a state-of-the-art polyolefin complex in Fujian province. At the same time, through our international investment arm XRG, Covestro is expanding its advanced materials production in China.

Together, these investments will strengthen integrated supply chains and expand the availability of specialty plastics and critical materials essential for high-tech manufacturing, data centers and the circular economy of the 21st century.

Regarding clean energy, through Masdar, we are expanding our partnership across the renewable energy and battery storage value chain. Chinese companies already provide the components for many of our solar projects and will be an integral partner in the world's first round-the-clock solar project in the UAE, supplying the batteries that will help provide 1 gigawatt of uninterrupted clean power for industrial and domestic consumers in Abu Dhabi.

This level of collaboration reflects a partnership in motion that moves the UAE-China relationship beyond supply and demand into co-investment, industrial collaboration and value creation across the board.

Chinese companies are part of the fabric of the UAE's economy, contributing directly to our continued economic success. Building on that foundation, there is significant opportunity to expand investment, strengthen industrial ties and create even greater shared value.

In a fast-evolving world, partnerships that can deliver both stability and transformation matter more than ever. The UAE-China partnership is already proving to be one of the most consequential.

The writer is the United Arab Emirates' minister of industry and advanced technology. He is also managing director and group CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, executive chairman of XRG, ADNOC's international investment company, and chairman of renewable energy company Masdar.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.