Xi Jinping: The Chinese president arrives in Saudi Arabia amid tensions with the United States

CNN
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Chinese president Xi Jinping The official Chinese news agency (Xinhua) reported that the Saudi capital, Riyadh, is on Wednesday for a multi-day visit, amid strained relations between the two countries and the United States.

And Saudi official television showed a picture of Xi walking down the steps of his presidential plane at King Khalid International Airport, where he was received by Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, the governor of the Riyadh region, and Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs.

A purple carpet was rolled out for the Chinese chief, and cannons were fired.

The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported earlier that the visit will include a “Saudi-Chinese summit”, a Chinese-Arab summit, and a summit between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Rumors of a Chinese presidential visit to the US’s top ally in the Middle East have been circulating for months as the two countries cement their ties, perhaps to Washington’s chagrin.

Indeed, the White House said on Wednesday that it is not surprising that Xi would pay a high-profile visit to Saudi Arabia because Beijing has been working to increase its influence in the Middle East.

“We recognize the influence that China is trying to cultivate around the world,” said John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council.

Xi’s trip comes against the backdrop of a number of disagreements the United States has feared toward both Beijing and Riyadh, including complaints over oil production, human rights and other issues.

But Saudi Arabia’s grand reception of the Chinese president is just a symbol of the scale of their growing relationship, specifically with regard to oil, trade and security. The two countries are expected to sign deals worth more than $29 billion during a visit this week, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Today, China is the largest trading partner of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in terms of the value of the Kingdom’s exports to China after being overtaken And the Saudi Press Agency stated that $50 billion last year constituted more than 18% of Saudi Arabia’s total exports in 2021. Bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to more than $80 billion.

Saudi Arabia has also traditionally been China’s largest oil supplier, with Saudi barrels accounting for about 17% of all Chinese oil imports as of last year, according to the Saudi-backed newspaper Arab News.

While the kingdom remains a major supplier to its Chinese partner, oil relations may have been slightly strained this year as sanctioned Russia pours its reduced barrels into the Asian market.

Aside from oil exports, this year Saudi Arabia has boosted its Chinese investment, which culminated in Aramco’s massive $10 billion investment in a refinery and petrochemical complex in northeastern China.

These close relations were years in the making as did both countries sought diversification Their security and energy sources, experts say.

“It is now the peak of bilateral relations between the two countries since the establishment of diplomatic relations between them in 1992,” Shaojin Zhai, assistant professor at the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, told CNN.

“They are getting closer because both sides need each other in many areas: energy transition, economic diversification, defense capabilities building for Saudi Arabia, and climate change, to name a few,” Zhai said, referring to Saudi Arabia. Adding, “Diversifying security risks requires Saudi Arabia to include China in the hedging.”

While the friendship between China and Saudi Arabia has blossomed over the decades, they seem to have grown closer to each other as both found themselves in precarious positions in relation to the United States.

Saudi Arabia, as a staunch US ally for eight long decades, has become bitter about what it perceives as the diminishing US security presence in the region, especially amid growing threats from Iran and its armed proxies in the Middle East.

China is an economic giant in the east, at odds with the United States over Taiwan, the democratically ruled island of 24 million people that Beijing claims as its territory although it never controlled it.

US President Joe Biden has repeatedly pledged to help Taiwan in the event of an attack by China, which has not ruled out the use of force for “reunification” with the island.

This thorny topic has exacerbated the uneasy relationship between Washington and Beijing, which are already vying for influence in the volatile Middle East.

“The Middle East is certainly one of those areas where they (China) want to deepen their level of influence,” Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, added on Wednesday.

“It’s probably no surprise that President Xi travels around and it’s certainly no surprise that he chose to go to the Middle East,” he said.

Kirby added that the United States’ strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia continues despite the dispute over oil production.

He said it was up to Riyadh and Beijing to make their own decisions about their bilateral relations.

“Sovereign states have every right to manage bilateral relations as they see fit,” he said. We will let China and Saudi Arabia talk about this particular visit on their own. We are not asking countries to choose between the United States and China.”

Meanwhile, China is also strengthening its relations with other Gulf countries, as well as with US foes Iran and Russia.

“If they’re sending anything out to the rest of the world, I suspect they are two important countries with a deep relationship of interest,” said Jonathan Fulton, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a think tank.

“At a time when negative perceptions of China dominate much of the West, Xi would be most welcome in Saudi Arabia, the most important Arab country, the most important state in global Islam, and a major player in global energy markets,” Fulton told CNN.

He added, “And the Saudis can show that they remain important to powers outside the region, even if their relationship with Washington is strained.”