In the past year, China's exchanges and cooperation with the six Gulf countries have been increasingly deepening in cultural exchanges and industrial landing. The cultural exchange activities led by the "Zhongsha Culture Year" have promoted more active and close cultural interactions, and closer people to people exchanges; New quality productivity factors such as artificial intelligence (AI) developed by China are accelerating their entry into the Gulf market, and cooperation areas are further expanding. Under the "dual wheel drive", China and Gulf countries continue to deepen pragmatic cooperation and write a new chapter of friendship in common development. In early 2025, the Chinese Embassy in Saudi Arabia held a "New Year's Gathering" in Riyadh, creating the first "China Saudi Arabia Cultural Year" and laying a solid foundation for cultural exchange. Subsequently, the two countries launched a series of exhibition and exchange activities around the Cultural Year: a promotion event was held in Saudi Arabia with the theme of Chinese ethnic minority intangible cultural heritage skills and tea culture, and the National Museums of China and Saudi Arabia held related themed exhibitions respectively; The opera "Carmen" rehearsed by the China Central Opera House and the National Centre for the Performing Arts special choir concert were staged in Saudi Arabia in rotation; The Saudi Tourism Authority held an immersive experience event in Shanghai, attracting numerous tourists to take photos and interact with each other. Looking back at the activities of the "China Saudi Arabia Cultural Year" over the past year, the core keywords are mutual learning of civilizations, people to people exchanges, and two-way travel. More than 60 activities throughout the year have deepened the exchange and mutual learning between the two civilizations of China and Saudi Arabia, and deepened the mutual understanding and affinity between the two peoples, laying a more warm and powerful humanistic foundation for the stable and far-reaching comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. In the Gulf region, activities such as the China Qatar Calligraphy Exchange Exhibition and the first Qatar China Film Festival have been held successively in Qatar's largest cultural park, Katala Cultural Village. Kuwait, Oman and other countries have also held "International Chinese Day" events, continuously arousing the interest of Gulf countries' people in Chinese culture. The Chinese animated film "Ne Zha: The Magic Child Roars in the Sea" (also known as "Ne Zha 2") will be released in Gulf countries during the summer of 2025. Malik Najer, the voice over director of the Arabic version of Nezha 2 and a well-known animation director from Saudi Arabia, believes that Chinese animation presents Chinese cultural elements to the world through mature production and resonates across borders. China has achieved simultaneous progress in cultural "going global" and technological "going global". 'Smart Manufacturing Going Global' promotes mutual benefit and win-win cultural exchanges, bringing people closer together, and 'Smart Manufacturing Going Global' promotes mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. Putting technology on the streets has become a new focus of cooperation in 2025. In the field of autonomous driving, Chinese autonomous driving technology company Wenyuan Zhixing has entered the Saudi market and launched the country's first batch of autonomous taxi trial operation services in Riyadh. Industry observers believe that there is a strong demand for smart travel in Gulf countries, but data compliance, operating licenses, and infrastructure collaboration are still key barriers to implementation. In the United Arab Emirates, about 300 Chinese technology companies participated in the 45th Gulf Information Technology Exhibition held in Dubai, showcasing achievements in AI, IoT, digital governance, and more; Flying cars and multimodal biometric devices have become the focus. Zhao Deli, founder of Xiaopeng Huitian, stated that the Middle East market has a strong interest in Chinese technology products, and the wave of regional transformation has created opportunities for Chinese companies to go global; The relevant person in charge of GAC High Altitude, a low altitude travel technology enterprise under GAC Group, believes that China's low altitude economy industry is developing rapidly, and platforms such as the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition are becoming important windows for Chinese companies to showcase their "smart manufacturing" strength. In the field of green transformation, "new energy+energy storage+manufacturing" has become a new growth point for cooperation. BYD has signed an energy storage project contract with Saudi Electricity Company, and Chinese photovoltaic companies such as Longi Green Energy are accelerating their cooperation with Gulf countries such as the United Arab Emirates. Salih Al Khabti, Chairman of Saudi International Power and Water Company China, said, "China's tremendous efforts in the field of renewable energy have promoted the popularization of wind, solar, hydro, and other renewable energy, benefiting many countries and promoting the development of related industries. We look forward to continuing to write a new chapter of friendship. In 2025, China and Gulf countries will release stronger signals of cooperation in multilateral mechanisms and cross regional linkage. In May 2025, the ASEAN China GCC Summit held in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, adopted a joint statement emphasizing the strengthening of economic, trade, investment, supply chain, and connectivity cooperation, and expressing willingness to cooperate in future industries, energy transformation, and other directions. During his meeting with Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and Minister of Foreign Affairs, in Riyadh in December 2025, the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Boudawi, stated that the GCC countries have a deep friendship with China, and China has always been a trustworthy and reliable strategic partner, maintaining high-level operation of maritime relations. The maritime side is willing to reach a maritime free trade agreement with China as soon as possible, and is full of expectations for the second China Arab States Summit and the China Sea Summit to be held in China in 2026. We are willing to strengthen communication with China and promote the summit to achieve more results. From the cultural year driving people to people exchanges, to the "smart manufacturing" cooperation connecting innovation and industrial chains more tightly, and to the continuous strengthening of institutional cooperation, China's cooperation with Gulf countries is interpreting "friendship" and "mutual benefit" more concretely and sustainably. The public opinion of Gulf countries generally expects that under the guidance of high-level politics and the framework of multilateral mechanisms, Gulf countries and China will continuously expand their cooperation areas through mutual learning and mutual assistance, and continue to write a new chapter of friendship in common development. (New Society)