Stanislav Ivanov, Leading Researcher, Center for International Security IMEMO RAS,, Candidate of Historical Sciences

Chinese President Xi Jinping made a state visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from December 7 to 9, 2022, during which he held talks with King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud, and spoke at two summits of the Arab states. The observers noted the warm and cordial welcome of the Chinese guest in Riyadh, rendered at the highest level.

“China sees Saudi Arabia as an important power in the multipolar world and attaches great importance to developing a comprehensive strategic partnership with it in various fields to maintain stability in the region and around the world,” the Chinese leader said. The two heads of state signed an agreement on a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Saudi Arabia, and also agreed to meet every two years in turn in each of the countries.

Xi Jinping stressed that China firmly supports Saudi Arabia in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and stability, and welcomes its continued pursuit of accelerated development in all areas. He said that China expects to work with Saudi Arabia to strengthen the coordination of energy policy, increase the volume of trade and strengthen cooperation in other areas. China seeks to deepen cooperation with Saudi Arabia in combating international terrorism and extremism. China supports strengthening the role of Saudi Arabia in international and regional affairs and looks forward to further developing coordination with Saudi Arabia within the framework of the UN, G20, BRICS, SCO and other regional and international organizations.

In turn, Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud said that Saudi-Chinese relations are traditionally friendly. Saudi Arabia is China’s strategic partner for cooperation in the Middle East and is ready to continue active cooperation within the framework of the One Belt, One Road project, expand trade and mutual investment, and also invites Chinese entrepreneurs to take an active part in the process of Saudi Arabia’s industrialization, modernization its economy, the implementation of significant infrastructure and energy projects, cooperation in such areas as the automotive industry, science and technology, the chemical and mining industries. He called on China to jointly counter the global challenges related to energy and food security, as well as climate change, to establish close dialogue and cooperation on significant and urgent regional issues.

In turn, the Chinese President assured that Beijing is ready to invest in the Saudi Vision 2030 project, which is an ambitious program to reduce Saudi Arabia’s dependence on oil exports, diversify the economy, develop green energy, public health, education, and infrastructure, recreational sphere and tourism.

Vision 2030 is a personal project of Crown Prince Mohammed, which has become a development strategy for Saudi Arabia in the coming years. It also includes massive privatizations of state-owned companies such as the oil giant Aramco (with a market value of over $1 trillion). Several years ago, Saudi Arabia announced its intention to build 16 nuclear power units by 2030. The total cost of this project reaches 100 billion dollars. Electricity generation at Saudi nuclear power plants should cover 20% of the country’s future needs. Companies from China, South Korea, the USA, France and Russia (Rosatom) are participating in the tender for the construction of the first two nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia.

Joint Sino-Saudi creation of high-tech industries and logistics centers, the purchase of Chinese weapons – ballistic and anti-ship missiles, laser air defense systems against drones, equipment for power plants for generating solar and wind energy, the construction of new petrochemical enterprises with the help of China and the implementation of large agricultural projects are not ruled out.

Similar issues were discussed by members of the delegation accompanying President Xi and with representatives of other Arab countries. During his visit to Riyadh, the Chinese leader managed to meet with more than 30 heads of state, government and representatives of business circles. The trip was like the culmination of the previous decades of China’s cooperation with the Arab countries, which grew into mutually beneficial bilateral trade worth over $90 billion a year. They also discussed the prospects for the transition of the KSA and other Arab countries to mutual settlements with the PRC in national currencies, which can expand the spread of the Chinese yuan to the Middle East.

In general, the visit of the Chinese leader to Riyadh can be regarded as another important step towards strengthening the multipolarity of the modern world. In some ways, this visit was a rather stark contrast to Joe Biden’s tepid reception in the summer of 2022 in Riyadh. It seems that there is a kind of “revaluation of values” in the Middle East, and the leaders of the Arab countries are seeking to diversify their relations in the field of foreign policy and economics through rapprochement with China.