“This project is a milestone in our cooperation, and its inauguration is expected soon,” Sheikh Abdullah Meshal Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s deputy minister of defence, said, according to Kuwait Times.
Speaking at a reception hosted by the Chinese embassy to mark the founding of the People’s Liberation Army, he also said military training programmes between the two countries, which began in 2019, would continue to expand each year.
Neither country has disclosed much information about the factory – which is reportedly making light and medium ammunition – since the joint project was first announced last year.
Pledging to “promote China-Kuwaiti military relations to new heights”, Liu Zongzhen, China’s defence attaché, said exchanges between the two militaries had “steadily advanced”, according to the embassy.
Meanwhile, chargé d’affaires Liu Xiang called on both countries to “adhere to the path of peaceful development” and “practice true multilateralism”.
Kuwait, a key US ally, became the first Gulf state to sign a military cooperation agreement with China in 1995, and these ties have deepened as Beijing has stepped up its engagement with the region.
