On January 30, 2012, CPPCC National Committee Chairman Jia Qinglin, on his way back to China after concluding the official goodwill visit to Ethiopia and attending the 18th AU Summit, met with Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at the Residence of Ruler of Dubai. The two sides, sitting around the campfire, had friendly conversations in a cordial atmosphere.

Jia first conveyed the cordial greetings and good wishes of Premier Wen Jiabao to Mohammed. He said that Premier Wen recently paid a successful official visit to the United Arab Emirates at the invitation of His Royal Highness Mohammed. China and UAE announced the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries, which opened up broad prospects for long-term development of bilateral relations and bore great significance. China attaches great importance to developing friendly cooperative relations with UAE and hopes the two sides could give full play to complementary advantages, further tap potentials and explore cooperation in finance, aviation, tourism and other new areas while enhancing cooperation in existing areas such as energy and project contracting. China encourages the people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries to enhance mutual understanding and friendship.

Jia said that in a short span of the past three decades Dubai made great achievements in economic and social development and built up a modern city in the desert, which fully embodies the wisdom and diligence of the people of UAE and the insight and foresight of His Highness. China highly appreciates that. China and Dubai are having increasingly close exchanges and enjoy a solid foundation for bilateral cooperation. There are many Chinese people working and living in Dubai. China hopes that the United Arab Emirates and Dubai continue to provide a good environment for them. Jia expressed the belief that with concerted efforts of China and Dubai, trade and investment cooperation will continue to expand.

H.H. Mohammed asked Jia to convey his greetings to Premier Wen. He said that Premier Wen's visit to UAE was very successful and left him with a beautiful and memorable impression. He said that he had built up a strong personal friendship with Premier Wen. He said that the reason that he welcomed Chairman Jia Qinglin and other distinguished Chinese guests at home was to express his friendly feelings to China and the Chinese people. UAE and China have established very good relations. He believed that with the establishment of bilateral strategic partnership, the high-level exchanges between the two sides will become even closer, political mutual trust will grow further, and the cooperation in trade, energy, culture and other fields will yield more results.

Mohammed said that Dubai's economic and trade exchanges with China made important contributions to the development of Dubai. Dubai welcomes Chinese enterprises to make investment in Dubai and is willing to create good conditions for Chinese enterprises.