A Chinese firm has signed a contract with the Kuwaiti government worth KD 215 million (USD 709 million) to develop infrastructure and roads for a new housing project in Kuwait's South Matlaa, a Kuwaiti official said on Tuesday.

The contract, signed during the visit of an official Chinese delegation, involves works for 18,000 housing units in the new city located west of Kuwait City, Kuwait's State Minister for Housing Affairs and State Minister for Services Yasser Abul told KUNA.

It comes on the heels of several contracts in the housing and communications sectors, and reflects the positive outcome of the visit, he added, without specifying the company that signed the deal.

Furthermore, Chinese technology and smartphone giant Huawei will execute the second phase of a fiber optics project in Kuwait, after it signed a KD 22 million (USD 72 million) contract with Kuwait's Ministry of Services, Abul said.

He commented that the diverse nature of sectors Chinese companies are handling in Kuwait illustrates the "combined determination to develop these sectors, to reach new levels of cooperation and to boost bilateral relations" with Kuwait.

Kuwaiti-Cino relations are in "constant development and growth" as more and more Chinese companies are dealing with the Kuwaiti government, he said, particularly in the housing sector.

The minister went on to welcome further investment from Chinese construction and building materials firms to benefit from the vast investment opportunities in Kuwait's housing sector.

The official Chinese delegation, which arrived in Kuwait on Monday, has been discussing matters related Kuwait's development plan and ways it could contribute to China's recreation of the ancient Silk Route, nicknamed the Belt and Road global trade project.

The Chinese intend to do this through the development of strategic projects, including Kuwait's planned Silk City project, a 250 sq/km free trade zone in the northern Subbiyya region and Kuwait's five islands.