KUWAIT CITY, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of Kuwaiti First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang arrived here Saturday evening on a four-day official visit.

    Li said in a statement delivered at the airport that he is delighted to pay an official visit to Kuwait, noting that the relationship between China and Kuwait, especially in the fields of trade, energy, finance and culture, has witnessed remarkable growth since the two forged diplomatic relations in 1971.

Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang(L in front) walks out of the Kuwaiti International Airport with a welcome delegation headed by Kuwaiti First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah(R in front) in Kuwait, Dec. 27, 2008

    "China highly values the friendship with Kuwait and will make concerted efforts with the Kuwaiti side to step up the bilateral cooperation to a higher level," Li said.

    Kuwait is the final leg of Li's 11-day overseas visit, his first foreign visit since he took office as vice premier in March, which has already taken him to Indonesia and Egypt.

    According to official statistics, China and Kuwait renewed their record of bilateral trade volume in 2007 with 3.6 billion U.S. dollars, a 30 percent growth compared with that of 2006.

    China imported 2.3 billion dollars worth of goods from Kuwait in 2007, with 90 percent of oil products, while only exporting 1.3billion dollars of goods to Kuwait.