Kuwait and China have signed a deal to develop the KD25-billion ($82.2 billion) Madinat Al Hareer (Silk City) - a massive development which will boast the Burj Mubarak Al Kabir tower, a nature reserve, a duty-free area, a new airport, a large business centre and other facilities - besides five other Kuwaiti islands, said the report.

A high-level Chinese delegation was in the country on a two-day visit to kick off the initiative following a memo signed between the two sides on the 250-sq km development in the northern Subiya region, reported Kuna.

The delegation led by vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China Ning Jizhe and Kuwaiti Ambassador to China Sameeh Hayat met His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah along with Speaker of the National Assembly Marzouq Al-Ghanim, and First Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

During the visit, Jizhe also held talks with CEO of the Apparatus for Developing Silk City and Bubiyan Island Faisal Al Medlej, members of Board of Trustees and Secretary General of the Supreme Planning Council Dr Khalid Mahdi.

Al Medlej, accompanied by the Chinese delegation, later went on a helicopter tour that was set off from Abdullah Al Mubarak base to Bubiyan, Warba and Failka Islands, and part of Al Subiya to see the location of the Silk City and Mubarak Port, said the report.

Talks with the Chinese side reviewed the first phase of the Silk City project, which aims to establish a regional trade zone in Mubarak Port, a logistics area for goods, an international airport and railways for transporting goods and people, and an industrial city to embrace small and medium enterprises, stated Kuna.

The two sides agreed to co-operate with the Chinese Construction and Communications Company to initiate the collection of data, and to develop a work programme for the investment, implementation and operation of Mubarak Port for Phase One, either through long-term leasing or through public-private partnerships, it added.