For Xi’s Visit, Saudi Arabia And China Make Deals On Tech, The Climate, And Others
On Wednesday the 7th, which was the first day of President Xi Jinping’s trip to the Kingdom, China and Saudi Arabia signed several tech and climate agreements. Xi came to Riyadh on Wednesday for a three-day visit and was met at the airport by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan. He was expected to meet with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, as well as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Other regional leaders will fly in to join Mr Xi in Riyadh for the China-Arab summit and the China-Gulf conference.
China and Saudi Arabia Sign More Deals Together: Tech and Climate And More
The head of China lauded the close connections between his country and Saudi Arabia, saying that the two countries established a strategic alliance in 2016 based on “continuous mutual trust.” Since then, he said, bilateral relations have helped promote peace, stability, prosperity, and growth in the area, as reported by Al-Arabiya, a Saudi news organization.
Friday marked the end of Xi Jinping’s historic three-day visit to Saudi Arabia, during which China and Saudi Arabia signed more than 40 agreements. This past Friday, Saudi Aramco and Shandong Energy Group of China signed a memorandum of intent to discuss potential oil refining and petrochemical joint ventures in China. Aramco announced in a press release that as part of the deal, the two companies committed to exploring opportunities for collaboration in the areas of renewable energy, tech, hydrogen energy, and carbon capture.
Moreover, a digital economy strategic cooperation was also signed between China and Saudi Arabia. The agreement covers topics such as AI, quantum computing, robotics, and more, according to the official Saudi Press Agency on Friday. There was no disclosure of the deals’ aggregate value. A previous estimate from the agency, however, said that the two countries planned to sign 20 preliminary deals worth a combined US$29.26 billion.
Abdulaziz bin Salman, the energy minister of Saudi Arabia, recently revealed plans to create a regional centre for Chinese companies in an effort to strengthen energy supply chains. According to SPA citations, he said that energy is the most crucial of many areas where the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and China share close strategic ties.
After Xi Jinping’s visit to the Gulf country, China and Saudi Arabia released a joint statement recognizing Saudi Arabia’s contribution to stabilizing global oil markets and pledging further energy cooperation. The statement indicated that China appreciated the Kingdom’s efforts to maintain global oil market stability and its status as a dependable, important supplier of crude oil to China. The country of China is the largest oil importer in the world.
Takeaways
The current accords are consistent with Saudi Arabia’s and China’s long-term goals. Saudi Arabia plans to invest more in green technologies for the climate and expand its artificial intelligence industry. China also has its sights set on the Middle East as it looks to develop the Belt and Road plan.
Last Updated on 10 months by News Editor
