Political and economic organizations in the Gulf region
synonymGulf Cooperation Council(Gulf Cooperation Council) generally refers to the Gulf Arab States Cooperation Council
The Gulf Cooperation Council isGulf regionThe most important political and economic organization is the Gulf Cooperation Council or the GCC for short.The GCC was established in May 1981, with its headquarters located inSaudi ArabiacapitalRiyadh。
Full members areSaudi Arabia、The United Arab Emirates、Qatar、Kuwait、Oman、Bahrain。The 22nd GCC Summit held in December 2001 agreedYemenJoined the GCC Council of Ministers of Health, Education, Labour and Social Affairs and other institutions.In June 2011, the Council of Foreign Ministers of the GCC issued a statement welcomingJordan、MoroccoJoin the GCC.In November 2012, the Council of Foreign Ministers of the GCC announced a five-year "joint action plan" with Jordan and Morocco on the establishment of a "strategic partnership", and pledged to provide $5 billion in free assistance to the two countries in the next five years.In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, BahrainEgyptThe four countries announced that they had broken off diplomatic relations with Qatar on the grounds that Qatar supported terrorism and interfered in the internal affairs of other countries.In January 2021, Saudi Arabia will resume diplomatic relations with Qatar and fully resume exchanges.In April 2023, Bahrain and Qatar decided to resume diplomatic relations.In June, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar resumed diplomatic relations and reopened their embassies and consulates in the other country.[7-8]On December 5 local time,The 44th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) SummitIt was held in Doha, the capital of Qatar.[25]
On May 25, 1981,Saudi Arabia、The United Arab Emirates、Qatar、Kuwait、Oman、BahrainThe heads of state of the six Gulf Arab countries met in the United Arab Emirates, announced the establishment of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and signed the charter of the Council.[1]
GCC member states
Purpose
Coordinate policies of various countries, promote economic integration, strengthen regional defense and security cooperation, and narrow the gap in social, cultural and educational development among countries.[1]
(1) The Supreme Council: the highest authority.It is composed of the heads of member states.The President shall be held by the heads of state in turn according to the alphabetical order of the country names (Arabic) for a term of one year.The rotating chairman in 2024 is Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar.
(2) Council of Foreign Ministers: composed of foreign ministers.The presidency is held by all countries in alphabetical order, and the term of office is one year.In 2024, the rotating chairman is Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar.
(3) Secretariat: There is a Secretary General and nine Assistant Secretaries General respectively responsible for political, economic, military, security, cultural and other fields.The Secretary General is appointed by the Supreme Council during the GCC Summit for a term of three years.[27]
Organization Members
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The formal members are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.At the 22nd GCC Summit held in December 2001, Yemen was agreed to join the GCC Council of Ministers of Health, Education, Labour and Social Affairs and other institutions.In June 2011, the Council of Foreign Ministers of the GCC issued a statement welcoming Jordan and Morocco to join the GCC.In November 2012, the Council of Foreign Ministers of the GCC announced a five-year "joint action plan" with Jordan and Morocco on the establishment of a "strategic partnership", and pledged to provide $5 billion in free assistance to the two countries in the next five years.In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt announced that they had broken off diplomatic relations with Qatar on the grounds that Qatar supported terrorism and interfered in other countries' internal affairs.In January 2021, the GCC summit was held in Euler, Saudi Arabia, and the six GCC countries and Egypt jointly signed the Euler Declaration.In the same month, Saudi Arabia and Egypt resumed diplomatic relations with Qatar and fully resumed exchanges.In April and June 2023, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates will resume diplomatic relations with Qatar.[27]
Principal Responsible Person
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The Secretary General, Jassim Mohammad Al Budaiwi (Kuwaiti), will take office as the seventh Secretary General of the GCC on February 1, 2023 for a three-year term.[5-6]
Previous sessions
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Since its establishment, the GCC has held 44 summit meetings in the capitals of the six countries in November or December every year.In addition, since 1999, informal summit consultations have generally been held between summits, and so far they have been held for 18 times.Ministers (ministers) of foreign affairs, national defense, internal affairs, oil, finance and economics of the six countries also hold meetings on a regular basis or as needed.The meeting mainly discussed the major political, economic, diplomatic, security, military and other issues faced by the six countries, the Gulf and the Middle East, exchanged information, coordinated positions, jointly discussed countermeasures and joint actions.[27]
26th session
On December 19, 2005, the two-day 26th Gulf Arab Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit concluded in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on the afternoon of December 19.The closing communiqu é issued at the meeting stressed that in order to meet the severe challenges of the international situation, the GCC must accelerate the construction of the economic integration process, especially improve the quality of people and the level of scientific education.[24]
27th session
On the evening of December 9, 2006, the 27th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit opened in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.Leaders from the six GCC member states will focus on discussing hot issues in the Gulf and the Middle East, as well as the GCC economic integration process.[23]
28th session
On December 3 and 4, 2007, the two-day 28th GCC Summit was held in Doha on December 3 and 4, with regional security and economic cooperation as the main topics.King Hamad of Bahrain and other leaders of GCC countries attended the meeting, and Iranian President Ahmadinejad was invited to attend.[22]
Twenty ninth session
In 2008, the 29th annual summit of the GCC ended in Muscat, the capital of Oman, on December 30.The meeting issued a statement and the "Muscat Declaration", adopted the Monetary Union Agreement and the Monetary Committee Charter, laying the foundation for the establishment of the Gulf Central Bank.[21]
30th session
On December 14, 2009, the 30th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit was opened in Kuwait City, the capital of Kuwait, on December 14, 2009. The heads of state of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, as well as representatives of the Sultan of Oman, attended.[20]
31st session
On December 6, 2010, the 31st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit was opened in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on December 6, 2010. The heads of state of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as the Saudi Interior Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister of Oman, attended the summit.[19]
32nd session
In 2011, the 32nd Summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council closed in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on December 20 and issued the Riyadh Declaration. The leaders of the participating countries adopted the initiative of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to move the Gulf countries from the cooperation stage to the integration stage,It was also decided that the GCC Ministerial Council should take the lead in establishing a special agency composed of three representatives from each country to study the integration initiative proposed by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and submit a report in March 2012.[18]
33rd session
The 33rd GCC Summit was held in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, on December 24-25, 2012.After the meeting, a press release and the "Sahel Declaration" were issued.
The communiqu é of the meeting stated that the Supreme Council heard the report on the work of the GCC on the unification of citizenship, called for accelerating the implementation of the GCC economic agreement, unifying fiscal and monetary policies, realizing infrastructure connectivity, improving production capacity, providing more employment opportunities, and asked the Financial and Economic Cooperation Committee to formulate practical plans,Propose the schedule of various integration work.[17]
34th session
In December 2013, the 34th GCC Summit opened in Kuwait on the 10th. During the two-day meeting, the leaders of the six Gulf countries will discuss the situation in Syria and the Iranian nuclear issue.[16]
35th session
On December 9, 2014, the 35th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit ended in Doha, the capital of Qatar.The Doha statement issued after the meeting announced that GCC member states would form a unified naval force of the Gulf States to deal with the security challenges and maritime threats faced by member states.The outside world interprets this as a new measure for GCC member states to promote "defense integration", and tries to improve the regional discourse through "unity and self-improvement".[15]
37th session
On December 7, 2016, the 37th GCC Summit was held in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, and the final communiqu é was issued after the meeting, highlighting the achievements of the meeting in political, economic, military and other fields.[14]
38th session
On December 5, 2017, the 38th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit concluded in Kuwait on December 5 and issued a statement, calling on all member states to work together within the GCC framework, maintain the integration and unity of the GCC, and jointly address the challenges facing regional security and stability.[13]
39th session
On December 9, 2018, the 39th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[11]The invited Emir Tamim of Qatar did not attend the summit and only sent State Minister Sultan for Foreign Affairs to attend.
The 39th GCC Summit was the first GCC summit held in Saudi Arabia after the Qatar diplomatic crisis.Before the summit, the GCC Secretary General Zayani went to Doha, the capital of Qatar, and handed over the invitation letter of King Salman to Tamim.[12]
40th session
On December 11, 2019, the 40th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.The meeting called for strengthening cooperation among GCC member states and completing relevant legislation on regional economic integration by 2025.[10]
41st and 42nd sessions
On January 5, 2021, the six GCC countries and Egypt held the 41st Summit in the ancient city of Oula, Saudi Arabia, and issued the "Oula Declaration" and the closing communiqu é, stressing that the GCC will push all member states back to the track of cooperation, commit to achieving comprehensive cooperation, solidarity and integration, and finally achieve reunification, which marks the easing of the Gulf diplomatic crisis since June 2017.In December of the same year, the 42nd GCC Summit was held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The six GCC countries reaffirmed their solidarity and common commitment to achieving GCC economic integration.
43rd session
In December 2022, the 43rd GCC Summit was held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.[2][7-8]
44th session
On December 5, 2023, the 44th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit was held in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait attended the summit.This is the first GCC summit held outside Saudi Arabia since 2018.Leaders at the meeting will discuss the integration process of Gulf countries in the fields of economy, trade, tourism and infrastructure.The question of Palestine will also be the focus of this meeting.[9]
foreign policy
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All six GCC countries pursue pragmatic and balanced foreign policies.In the face of the current new international and regional situation, the six countries actively participate in international and regional affairs and carry out diversified diplomacy.[1]
Invited to attend
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On December 7, 2022, at the invitation of King Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, President Xi Jinping went to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from December 7 to 10 to attend the first sessionChina Arab Summit、China Gulf Arab States Cooperation Council SummitAnd conduct state affairs to Saudi Arabiavisit.[3]
On December 9, 2022,Joint Statement of the Cooperation and Development Summit between the People's Republic of China and the Cooperation Council of the Gulf Arab States[4]。
external relations
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Relations with China
China has established contact with the GCC since its establishment.In recent years, the friendly relationship between the two sides has continued to develop.
The two sides have maintained good exchanges.In December 2022, President Xi Jinping attended the first China Gulf Arab States Cooperation Council Summit held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.The summit issued the Joint Statement of the Summit of the People's Republic of China and the Cooperation Council of the Gulf Arab States, and adopted the Action Plan for the Strategic Dialogue between the People's Republic of China and the Cooperation Council of the Gulf Arab States from 2023 to 2027.
In June 2010, China and the GCC established a strategic dialogue mechanism and held the first round of dialogue in Beijing. Since then, the second and third rounds of strategic dialogue have been held in Abu Dhabi and Beijing, United Arab Emirates respectively.In January 2022, Naif, then Secretary General of the GCC, visited China. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and the GCC Secretariat issued a joint statement, and both sides agreed to establish a strategic partnership between China and the GCC as soon as possible;Sign the action plan of China Shipping Strategic Dialogue as soon as possible;To complete the negotiation of the China Sea Free Trade Agreement as soon as possible and establish the China Sea Free Trade Area;The fourth round of China Shipping Strategic Dialogue was held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, in due course.
Since the 1990s, Chinese foreign ministers have met collectively with the "troika" of the GCC (the current and incoming rotating presidents of the GCC Council of Foreign Ministers and the Secretary General of the GCC) every year during the general debate of the United Nations General Assembly.In September 2022, Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, head of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Working Committee and Foreign Minister of the CPC Central Committee (then in his capacity as State Councilor and Foreign Minister), met with the foreign ministers of GCC countries collectively during the general debate of the General Assembly.
The cooperation between China and the sea in economy, trade and energy is fruitful.In 2023, the bilateral trade volume will reach US $285.94 billion, including US $112.75 billion of Chinese exports and US $173.19 billion of imports.In 2023, China will import 201 million tons of crude oil from the six GCC countries.
On October 22, 2023, the China GCC 6+1 Economic and Trade Ministers' Meeting was held in Guangzhou, and the Joint Statement on Deepening Economic and Trade Cooperation between the Ministers of Economy and Trade of the People's Republic of China and the Gulf Arab States Cooperation Council Member States was adopted.
In 2004, China and the GCC started negotiations on a free trade agreement, and so far, 10 rounds have been held.
China and the six GCC countries have signed cooperation documents on jointly building the "Belt and Road".
China and the sea have close people to people and cultural exchanges.China and the six GCC countries have signed intergovernmental cultural cooperation agreements.In recent years, cultural exchange activities between China and GCC countries have developed rapidly. GCC countries have sent delegations to attend "Arab Art Festival" and other activities held in China for many times. China has held "Happy Spring Festival", "Chinese Art Festival", "Chinese Culture Week" and other activities in GCC countries, which have been welcomed and praised by local people.In September 2023, the Kuwait Chinese Cultural Center was put into trial operation, becoming the first Chinese cultural center in the Gulf region.[28]
Relations with South Korea
On December 28, 2023, South Korea announced that it had reached a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Cooperation Council of the Gulf Arab States (GCC)。After the agreement comes into force, the ROK and the GCC will cancel 89.9% and 76.4% of tariff items respectively, and the GCC will also reduce the tariff on 4.1% of products on this basis.[26]
Relations with Azerbaijan and Central Asia
On November 24, 2023, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with the Secretary General of the Cooperation Council of the Gulf Arab States, Jassim Mohamed Budawi.
The President of Azerbaijan made positive comments on the participation of the Cooperation Council of the Gulf Arab States in the summit of the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA).He pointed out that Azerbaijan has established very close partnership with GCC member states.
President Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has broad prospects for future cooperation with Central Asia and the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council.Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan also maintain cooperation within the framework of the Organization of Turkic Speaking Countries, pointing out the importance of establishing institutionalized cooperation between the Organization of Turkic Speaking Countries and the Gulf Arab States Cooperation Council.
Jassim Mohammed Budawi said that the member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council attach great importance to the comprehensive development of relations with Azerbaijan and Central Asian countries, and emphasized the development of relations in various fields.[29]
