Recently, Al Etihad, a leading official UAE newspaper, published an article by H.H. Sheikha Moza bint Mohammed bin Butti Al Hamed. The article highly praised the long history of civilizational exchanges between the UAE and China and the friendly relations between the two countries, and spoke highly of China’s achievements in preserving and carrying forward its civilization, protecting cultural heritage, and advancing digital development.
The article noted that friendly exchanges between the UAE and China have a long history. Historically, knowledge, experience, and goods flowed between the two sides through the land and maritime Silk Roads, and this friendship has continued to this day. The article recalled the historic visit to China by the UAE’s Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, on May 6, 1990. It noted that the visit marked the first official visit to China by a head of state of a member state of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), opening up broad prospects for cooperation between the two countries.
The article spoke highly of the UAE-China people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation, particularly the fruitful outcomes of cooperation in such areas as book exchanges and Arabic-language teaching. Sheikha Moza noted in the article that she had donated her book, Zayed: A Legend of Two Millennia, to the National Library of China. The book provides a detailed account of the life of the UAE’s Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. She expressed the hope that Chinese readers would gain a deeper understanding of the UAE’s founding, nation-building process, and development philosophy, thereby building a cultural bridge to enhance mutual understanding between the peoples of the two countries.