Chinese President Xi Jinping began a visit to Saudi Arabia that Beijing said marked its biggest diplomatic initiative in the Arab world, as Riyadh expands global alliances beyond a long-standing partnership with the West. | Reuters
China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, is a major trade partner of Gulf oil and gas producers. Bilateral ties have expanded under the region’s economic diversification push, raising U.S. concerns about growing Chinese involvement in sensitive infrastructure in the Gulf.
On Wednesday Chinese and Saudi firms signed 34 deals for investment in green energy, information technology, cloud services, transport, construction and other sectors, Saudi state news agency SPA reported. It gave no value for the deals, but had earlier said the two countries would seal agreements worth $30 billion.Xi was met on arrival by the governor of Riyadh, the kingdom’s foreign minister and the governor of sovereign wealth fund PIF.
For Riyadh, frustrated by what it sees as Washington’s gradual disengagement from the Middle East and a slow erosion of its security guarantees, China offers an opportunity for economic gains without the tensions which have come to cloud the U.S. relationship.
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