MANAMA: A Bahraini petrochemicals firm has vowed to develop business ties with Chinese companies.

“China is a very attractive marketing and investment destination not only for the petrochemical industry, but for industrial and commercial activities as well,” Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) president Dr Abdulrahman Jawahery said as he and members of the executive management and labour union officials received a Chinese delegation at the industrial complex in Sitra.

The Chinese delegation was headed by National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference vice-chairman and secretary-general Zhang Qingli.

Dr Jawahery said the visit is testimony to the close ties between Bahrain and China.

“We are very pleased to welcome this very important delegation from a friendly nation. This visit is sure to further develop and expand the already existing close ties between the two countries.”

He said the fact that China and Bahrain shared very close ties links was proved when His Majesty King Hamad visited China last year and held talks with President Xi Jinping and other officials.

The visit, he said, has served to develop bilateral relations and expand the horizons of joint co-operation between the two countries. Several memorandam of understanding and co-operation were also signed during the visit.

Dr Jawahery pledged that the GPIC would look at further expanding and developing ties with Chinese companies. He said the company already enjoyed a very good reputation in the Chinese market.

Dr Jawahery said several business delegations from China had visited the GPIC in the recent past and that had further boosted co-operation between the two countries.

During the visit, guests were briefed on company operations and its professionally managed business strategy.

Details on its production processes and exports were also provided during the visit.

The delegation witnessed the manufacturing process and were briefed on the GPIC’s most important achievements and awards received for the application of the best and the latest international standards in safety, quality and environmental standards.

They visited the state-of-the-art and first in the Middle East carbon dioxide recovery plant, which helps in reducing harmful emissions as a result of factory operations and went around the academy of learning and leadership and e-learning which the GPIC has set up to train students from universities and academic institutions.

The guests were taken around the complex during which they saw the Charity Fish Farm and Vegetable Garden, the Princess Sabeeka Aromatic Plants and Medicinal Herbs Garden and the Bird Sanctuary.

Mr Qingli, later planted a tree to commemorate his visit and as a contribution to
support environmental orientation.

He said GPIC is a model of successful GCC co-operation.

He said the visit was a good opportunity to look closely at how the GPIC has gone about its task in a professional manner.

The Chinese delegation’s visit to Bahrain has come on the invitation of Shura Council chairman Ali bin Saleh Al Saleh to discuss developments in the region and enhance the bilateral co-operation between the two countries.

Bahrain hosted a forum in April to strengthen Bahraini-Chinese relations.

Dr Jawahery, who took part in that event, had presented working paper during His Majesty’s visit to China in which he discussed the outstanding relationship that linked the company with their counterparts in China.