Xi seeks closer ties as he begins Middle East tour
Print Edition
CHINESE President Xi Jinping arrived in Saudi Arabia yesterday on the first stop of his three-nation tour of the Middle East, as the world’s second-largest economy seeks closer political and economic ties with the region.
It is the first state visit by a Chinese head of state to Saudi Arabia in seven years. Xi will also travel to Egypt and Iran.
Xi met with King Salman and announced with his Saudi host that the two countries are to lift bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
The monarch held a luncheon banquet in Xi’s honor attended by several members of the royal family, Saudi Press Agency said.
“Since China and Saudi Arabia forged diplomatic ties 26 years ago, our relationship has developed by leaps and bounds, with mutual political trust deepening continuously and rich results in cooperation in various fields,” Xi said in written remarks on arrival in Riyadh.
“I believe that my visit will be a friendly trip with fruitful achievements, thus conducive to lifting our cooperation in various fields to a new level and to elevating the collective cooperation between China and GCC nations,” Xi said, referring to the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to which Saudi Arabia belongs.
Today, Xi is to join Salman for a ceremony to inaugurate the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center on energy economics and policy in Riyadh.
They will also open, remotely from Riyadh, the Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company Ltd on the kingdom’s Gulf coast.
The refinery is a joint venture between state-owned Saudi Aramco and China Petrochemical Corp (SINOPEC).
Saudi Arabia is China’s biggest global supplier of crude oil and its biggest trading partner in West Asia and Africa. In 2013, China became the biggest trading partner of Saudi Arabia for the first time.
Two-way trade reached US$69.1 billion in 2014, growing by 230 times over that of 1990 when the two countries established diplomatic ties.
In Egypt, Xi will speak at the Arab League headquarters to outline China’s policy on promoting peace and development in the Middle East.
Prior to the president’s visit, China issued its first official Arab Policy Paper, voicing hopes to bolster friendly ties and cooperation with Arab countries, particularly on synergizing their respective development strategies in the joint pursuit of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.
“According to Arab states’ needs, China will continue to provide assistance within our means to Arab states through bilateral and multilateral channels, to help them improve self-development capability and people’s livelihood,” the paper says.
It also says China supports the Middle East peace process, adheres to political solutions to regional hotspot issues, and supports the establishment of a nuclear weapon-free and WMD-free zone in the region.
Xi’s visit comes just days after international nuclear-related sanctions on Iran were lifted following the UN nuclear agency’s announcement that Tehran had scaled back its nuclear program. China played a constructive role in prior negotiations.
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