Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain – 14 October 2026: As part of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Presidency of the 46th Session of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), H.E. Khalid Humaidan, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, chaired the Joint Meeting of GCC Central Bank Governors and the Governor of the People’s Bank of China, which was held in Bangkok, Thailand, on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group.

The meeting was attended by H.E. Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Their Excellencies the Governors of the GCC central banks, and H.E. Mr. Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People’s Bank of China.

In his opening remarks, H.E. Khalid Humaidan highlighted the importance of strengthening financial and economic ties between the GCC member states and China, noting that the growing partnership between the two sides creates promising opportunities to promote innovation and support sustainable economic growth. H.E. also highlighted how digital transformation presents significant opportunities to deepen financial cooperation between the two sides, particularly in areas such as digital payments.

During the meeting, several priority topics of mutual interest were discussed, including enhancing investment ties, developing payment systems, strengthening financial cooperation between the two sides, and exploring opportunities to further strengthen collaboration between GCC central banks and the People’s Bank of China.