The traditional friendly relations between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Yemen made steady progress in 2010.

The two sides maintained exchanges at various levels, leading to stronger political mutual trust. In March, Ambassador Yu Qingtai, Special Representative for Climate Change Negotiations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited Yemen. In May, Foreign Minister Abu-Bakr Abdullah Al-Qirbi came to China for the fourth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum. He visited the Shanghai World Expo and presided over the launch ceremony of the Yemen Pavilion at the Expo. In October, Minister of Tourism Nabil Hassan Al-Faqih came to China for the National Day event of the Yemen Pavilion at the Expo. In April, Foreign Minister Al-Qirbi sent a letter of condolences to Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi over the earthquake in Yushu, Qinghai.

Cooperation made good progress in economic assistance, military exchanges and other fields. Ground was broken for the Yemen-China friendship hospital to be built with Chinese assistance and smooth progress was made in the national grand library project. In October, Major General Zhou Linhe, Director of the Military Supplies and POL Section of the PLA General Logistics Department visited Yemen and exchanged views with the Yemeni side on enhancing military cooperation and jointly fighting piracy.

Inter-party, local and non-governmental exchanges became increasingly close. In November, Secretary of the CPC Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Guo Shengkun visited Yemen and had discussions with the Yemeni side on strengthening friendly relations between the CPC and the General People's Congress of Yemen. In March, President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) Chen Haosu visited Yemen where he passed on to President Ali Abdullah Salieh the "China-Yemen Friendship Award" conferred by the CPAFFC. In the same month, Aden of Yemen and Shanghai signed an agreement on friendly exchanges. In June, Yemenia opened a regular flight connecting Sana'a and Guangzhou, the first ever flight of Yemenia to China.