United Arab Emirates, 13 September 2022: Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, welcomed His Excellency Zhang Yiming, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China, to the company’s Jebel Ali site in Dubai.

Abdulla Kalban, EGA’s Managing Director, received the Ambassador and his delegation at EGA.

China is the largest single market for EGA’s bauxite, the ore from which aluminium is derived. EGA ships bauxite directly to China from its mining operation in the Republic of Guinea.

Last year, EGA procured some $616 million of goods and services from China, from 55 different companies.

A Chinese company, SEPCOIII, was the subcontractor for the construction of the H-block power plant and main EPC contractor for the reverse osmosis water plant at EGA’s Jebel Ali site. HE Ambassador Zhang met Chinese employees of SEPCOIII at the project site to exchange mooncakes to mark the Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional Chinese cultural celebration.

HE Zhang Yiming, said: “I am very pleased to see that as a leading company in the aluminium industry, EGA has a great cooperation with SEPCOIII which has achieved mutual benefits and win-win results. I hope that there will be more Chinese enterprises that can strengthen cooperation with high-level enterprises in the UAE such as EGA. We also welcome EGA to invest in China and share the dividends of the new round of reform and opening up in China.”

Abdulla Kalban said: “Chinese companies have been important partners for EGA for decades, and we were pleased to welcome the Ambassador to Jebel Ali on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival. We look forward to strengthening our cooperation with Chinese companies over the years ahead, in line with the economic relationship between our two countries.”

Zaher Al Habtari, Executive Vice President Capital Projects, Alumina & Bauxite, EGA said: “EGA has done business with Chinese suppliers for more than 25 years and is the second largest imported bauxite supplier of the Chinese market. We welcome the visit of the Ambassador to Jebel Ali and look forward to future opportunities of collaboration.”