Xi Jinping: Beginning on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Saudi Arabia for a three-day official visit. While there, he will take part in the China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) conference.
President Xi will visit Saudi Arabia for three days beginning Wednesday, according to a report by Saudi state media on Tuesday, even though there has been no official confirmation of his visit. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil producer.
According to reports in the Saudi official media, the visit would involve a bilateral summit presided over by Saudi King Salman and accompanied by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler.
According to the report, Xi will also attend a summit with the six GCC leaders and meetings with other Middle Eastern leaders.
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About Gulf Cooperation Council
The GCC is a group of countries that includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. It is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union.
The presence of Xi comes at a time when tensions between the US and Saudi Arabia on a variety of topics, including energy policy, regional security, and human rights, are at an all-time high.
His trip coincides with US Vice President Joe Biden’s declarations that Washington will not hand over control of the Middle East to Beijing.
When Biden visited Riyadh in July, he addressed the gathered Arab leaders and declared, “We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia, or Iran… the US is not going anywhere.”
There is considerable hostility between the US and Saudi Arabia over oil production. In an effort to “stabilise” prices, OPEC+ reduced supply by two million barrels per day in October. The choice was made despite a vigorous US opposition campaign.
The Financial Times reported that China’s desire to strengthen ties in a region that Washington has historically viewed as falling under its sphere of influence is highlighted by the Chinese president’s visit, which comes as he is under increasing pressure at home over opposition to his “zero covid” strategy.
Gulf officials are explicit in their reluctance to become too involved in any China-US disagreements, though, as they are aware that they must continue to have good relations with both countries.
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China, Saudi Arabia’s largest crude oil buyer
With around a quarter of all Saudi oil exports, China is Saudi Arabia’s largest crude oil buyer.
Beyond energy, analysts predict that leaders from the two nations will talk about prospective agreements that may see Chinese companies involved more extensively in mega-projects that are crucial to Prince Mohammed’s plan to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil, according to the Voice of America.
These initiatives include NEOM, a futuristic megacity estimated to cost $500 billion. This so-called cognitive city will rely primarily on facial recognition and surveillance technology.
Prior to Prince Mohammed taking the throne, Xi last travelled to Saudi Arabia in 2016, during a journey that also included stops in Egypt and Saudi adversary Iran. During a trip to Asia in 2019, Prince Mohammed went to China and met with Xi.
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