On February 16th, Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), hosted the Third China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Central Bank Governors' Meeting in Saudi Arabia. It was also the first face-to-face meeting between the governors of PBOC and the central banks of GCC countries.

The governors exchanged views on the global economic and financial situation, the opportunities and challenges faced by China and the GCC countries in the financial field, as well as the key areas of future financial cooperation between the two sides.

They also noted that China and the GCC countries enjoy great economic complementarities, and China is the largest trading partner of the Gulf countries, so deepening the China-GCC central bank cooperation will help to better support trade and investment, and enhance the financial stability and development. PBOC and the central banks of the GCC countries will further reinforce local currency cooperation, expand two-way investment in the financial market, promote the connectivity of payment systems, and coordinately advance the reform of international financial governance reform, and at the same time strengthen cooperation in the fields of digital currency and anti-money laundering.