Diplomacy in focus as Gulf leaders visit Berlin, Beijing

Kelsey WarnerTue, September 8, 2026 at 12:34 PM UTC1 min readAdd Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.

Beijing and Berlin are on the itineraries of Gulf leaders this week, with diplomacy and economic resilience in focus as the Iran war grinds on. UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed will arrive on a state visit to Germany tomorrow. The world's third-largest economy is among Abu Dhabi's largest European trading partners.

German industry has long been in Abu Dhabi's crosshairs: Its latest prominent deal was ADNOC's XRG buying a majority stake in chemicals giant Covestro. It's also a market for UAE products. The country's non-oil exports hit an all-time high of 453 billion dirhams ($123 billion) in the first six months of the year, the UAE's foreign trade minister said at the Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani is wrapping up a visit to China, Qatar's largest trading partner. His trip came as tensions flared in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for Qatar's liquefied natural gas exports, which supplies nearly one-third of China's demand. The Chinese premier expressed support for Qatar's mediating role with Iran, saying Beijing would work with Gulf states to "restore peace."