China and Saudi Arabia sign deals worth around $30 billion during Xi Jinping’s visit

Asia-Pacific, Middle East, News December 10, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Saudi Arabia and China showed a deepening relationship during Xi Jinping’s visit to the oil-rich Kingdom. President Xi Jinping arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh on December 7, 2022, to take part in the first summit between China and the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The trip is being described by Beijing as a milestone for the China-Arab relationship. On December 8, President Xi met with King Salman and Saudi Arabia’s leader Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman. The high-profile meeting between the two global economic giants resulted in a raft of business deals and agreements encompassing everything from hydrogen energy to housing.

The two countries already share a good history of economic cooperation. At least seven Chinese mega-factories are operating in different fields in the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones. Apart from that, there are ten other factories at different stages of planning, construction, and implementation.

The current agreements signed between China and Saudi Arabia cover a range of sectors including green energy, technology, and cloud services. Transportation, logistics, medical industries, construction, and manufacturing as well as petrochemicals project. China also signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia that would promote the teaching of the Chinese language in Saudi institutions.

The agreements are worth about $30 billion and come at a time when China seeks to shore up its COVID-19-hit economy while the Kingdom is striving to diversify its economic and political alliances in line with its Vision 2030.

On December 9, President Xi Jinping participated in a summit with the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council as well as a broader China-Arab summit, which includes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia along with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. All sides had been preparing for the event for more than two years. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Tunisian President Kais Saied were among the heads of state who arrived in Riyadh to attend the meeting.

*^{Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) is greeted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 8, 2022. (Image Credit: Saudi Press Agency)}*

China has established strategic partnerships with Arab countries at the bilateral level in recent times. According to a report on Sino-Arab cooperation released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, China intends to use the first Sino-Arab Summit as an opportunity to build what it calls a “Sino-Arab community of common destiny” with Arab countries.

According to China’s state-owned media outlets, bilateral trade between the Arab world and China reached more than $300 billion in 2021, an increase of 37% over the previous year. In 2021, China imported 265 million tons of crude oil from Arab countries, which made up 51.6% of all imported crude oil.

Chinese President Xi Jinping also received an honorary doctorate degree from King Saud University during a ceremony at the royal palace in Riyadh. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud was also present during the ceremony.