Trade between Kuwait and China rose 69 percent in 2006 to $2.7 billion, mainly on the sale of crude oil products.

Trade between the two countries was $1.6 billion in 2005, China's trade counsellor to Kuwait Jiang Senhua told state news agency Kuna.

Investors in the world's largest oil-exporting region are increasingly looking to Asia to invest windfall oil revenue and boost trading ties.

Trade between China and the Gulf states may surge as much as 20 percent to $17.3 billion this year as the two sides work on a free trade agreement, the UAE economy minister said last month.

Senhua said up to 10,000 Kuwaiti businessmen visit China annually. - Reuters