Eagle-eyed residents spotted the change last night…

Eagle-eyed smart phone users may have woken up to their phone looking a little different this morning, as network providers du and etisalat changed their name to ‘WelcomePresChina’.

The change appeared to take place on several smart phones last night, with users taking to social media this morning to note the change.

Why?

Well, it’s to mark the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is set to begin a three-day state visit to the UAE today, Thursday July 19.

And it’s not the only thing you’ll have noticed changing ahead of the state visit. Several key Dubai landmarks including Dubai Frame and Burj Khalifa lit up in red to mark the celebrations of UAE-China Week, which is running alongside the Chinese President’s visit.

A post shared by Jean-Philipp Kern (@j.phil.k) on

It’s not the first time network providers have changed name recently. Both du and etisalat have previously changed their name to Labour Day, to mark World Labour Day, Zayed Humanitarian Day, in honour of the day dedicated to the the good deeds and achievements of the late Sheikh Zayed, and most recently ‘UAE KSA Together’ – as a movement of support for the historic meeting of the Saudi-Emirati Coordination Council last month.

– For more about Dubai straight to your newsfeed, follow us on Facebook.