On Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping began a visit to Saudi Arabia. The visit has been touted by Beijing as the nation’s biggest diplomatic initiative in the Arab world, however, as per the US, it serves as an example of Chinese attempts to exert influence.
The meeting between Saudi Arabia and China takes place at a time when relations between the Kingdom and the US are strained as a result of US criticism and Saudi support of OPEC+ oil output limitations.
Watch | Chinese President XI Jinping to meet Saudi Arabia’s Crown prince
According to John Kirby, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, “We are mindful of the influence that China is trying to grow around the world.”
According to a Reuters report quoting Saudi state news agency SPA, Chinese and Saudi companies inked 34 agreements on Wednesday to invest in green energy, information technology, cloud services, transportation, construction, and other industries.
While the value of the agreements was not specified, a previous report stated that the two countries will sign agreements worth $30 billion.
According to Mao Ning, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, during his visit Xi will hold bilateral discussions with Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh will then host a meeting with Arab leaders and a larger gathering of Gulf Arab governments that will mark “an epoch-making milestone in the history of the development of China-Arab relations.”
Saudi Arabia is China’s biggest oil supplier, and Xi’s visit comes at a time when Western nations have set a price ceiling on Russian oil supplies, which have been boosting volumes to China with discounted oil.
The largest energy consumer in the world, China, is a significant trade partner for Gulf oil and gas producers.
The trip as per AFP is just President Xi’s third abroad since the coronavirus outbreak started and his first to the top oil exporting nation since 2016, follows US Vice President Joe Biden’s visit in July, during which he unsuccessfully lobbied for increased oil output.
(With inputs from agencies)
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