Al-Zouba and China’s Shao Zheng discuss Aden electricity and Red Sea security
Yemen Herald News 
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Yemen’s foreign minister discussed Chinese support for Aden’s electricity sector with Beijing’s chargé d’affaires on Tuesday, the state news agency Saba reported.
Afrah al-Zouba met Shao Zheng in the Saudi capital. Saba filed its account of the talks early on 29 September.
The two discussed widening that cooperation beyond power supply into energy, infrastructure, training and capacity-building projects, the agency said.
Aden is the seat of the internationally recognised government. Its electricity supply has failed repeatedly through successive summers, and the city leans on fuel-fired generation.
Al-Zouba briefed the Chinese diplomat on what she described as an escalation by Houthi forces, according to Saba, and on threats to shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab strait.
Restoring the state and ending the Houthi threat were shared interests of Yemen, the region and the international community, she said, according to the agency.
Shao affirmed China’s support for President Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Saba reported.
He reaffirmed Beijing’s backing for Security Council Resolution 2216 and its commitment to maritime security and freedom of trade in the Red Sea, the agency said.
Yemen Herald could not independently confirm the account. It rests on Saba, the state news agency of the internationally recognised government, and no independent record of the meeting has been published.
The two governments mark 70 years of diplomatic relations this year. Al-Zouba said the anniversary was an opportunity to broaden bilateral cooperation, Saba reported.
China established relations with the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen in 1956. Ties carried over to the republic declared in 1962 and to the unified state formed in 1990.
Yemen was among the first Arab states to open ties with the People’s Republic of China, the news site Yemen Monitor reported this month.
Shao holds the rank of chargé d’affaires rather than ambassador. Saba rendered his name as Zhao Cheng.
The Chinese embassy to Yemen has operated from Riyadh since December 2015, the Chinese foreign ministry says. Its consulate general in Aden remains temporarily closed.
Most foreign missions to Yemen relocated to Riyadh or to Aden after the Houthi takeover of Sanaa.
Generation capacity in Aden does not exceed 250 megawatts, against demand above 600 megawatts, the South24 Center reported in May. Outages in the city had reached about 16 hours a day.
Yemen’s electricity minister said the government spends about 1.2 billion dollars a year on the sector, and that revenues cover about half of that, according to the same report.
Saudi Arabia gave an 81.2 million dollar fuel grant earlier in 2026 to run more than 70 power stations in government-held areas, South24 said.
A Saudi-Yemeni grid interconnection has been under discussion since 2017, when Yemen’s electricity ministry signed a memorandum with the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority. Its first phase targets three governorates.
Trade between the two countries runs heavily in China’s favour. Bilateral trade came to 2.49 billion dollars in 2024, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
Chinese exports accounted for 2.47 billion dollars of that total, mainly textiles and mechanical and electrical goods. Chinese imports from Yemen came to 20 million dollars.
The Security Council adopted Resolution 2216 on 14 April 2015 by 14 votes to none. Russia abstained and China voted in favour.
The resolution called on the Houthis to withdraw from areas seized during the conflict and to relinquish arms taken from military and security institutions. It imposed sanctions on individuals judged to be undermining Yemen’s stability.
China has kept contacts with both Yemeni parties while backing the resolution in Security Council statements.
Fighting between government forces and the Houthis resumed in July 2026 and has widened across several fronts, Al Jazeera reported on 27 September. The network said it could not verify battlefield claims made by either side.
The Bab al-Mandab strait links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. It carries much of the traffic moving between Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal.
Shipping through the Red Sea declined after Houthi attacks on commercial vessels began in late 2023. Many operators rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope.
The European Union’s naval mission in the Red Sea, Operation Aspides, began escorting merchant ships in February 2024.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, asked member states this month to commit more warships to the Red Sea.
UNICEF’s representative in Yemen, Akhil Iyer, said 146,000 people had been displaced in the three weeks to late September.
Djibouti state media said more than 3,000 people had crossed to that country.
Saba did not say whether anything was signed at Tuesday’s meeting, or give a timetable for the electricity projects discussed.
The agency did not name other officials present.
Shao marked the anniversary of relations separately this week, restating Beijing’s support for Yemeni unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, spoke with al-Zouba this month about de-escalation and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, the Italian foreign ministry said.
Al-Zouba met Algeria’s foreign minister, Ahmed Attaf, on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly this month to discuss Yemen and navigation in the Red Sea.
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