Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Wednesday for a multi-day visit, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported, amid fraying relations between the two countries and the United States.
Saudi state television showed Xi descending the steps of his presidential jet at King Khalid International Airport, where he was greeted by Saudi Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, governor of the Riyadh region, and Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia.
A purple carpet was rolled out for the Chinese president and cannons were fired.
The visit will include a “Saudi-Chinese Summit”, a China-Arab Summit and a China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) previously reported.
Rumors of a visit by the Chinese president to the US’s biggest ally in the Middle East have been circulating for months as the nations have strengthened ties, possibly to the dismay of Washington.
Indeed, the White House said on Wednesday it was not surprised that Xi was making a high-profile visit to Saudi Arabia as Beijing works to increase its influence in the Middle East.
“We are mindful of the influence that China is trying to develop around the world,” said John Kirby, coordinator of strategic communications at the National Security Council.
Xi’s trip comes amid a series of disputes the US has with both Beijing and Riyadh, including grievances over oil production, human rights and other issues.
But Saudi Arabia’s lavish reception of the Chinese president is only emblematic of the extent of their growing relationship, especially around oil, trade and security. The two countries are expected to sign deals worth more than $29 billion during this week’s visit, according to SPA.
China is currently Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner, with the value of the kingdom’s exports to China exceeding $50 billion last year, accounting for more than 18% of Saudi Arabia’s total exports in 2021. Bilateral trade between of the two states is more than 80 billion dollars, SPA said.
Saudi Arabia has also traditionally been China’s top oil supplier, with Saudi barrels making up about 17 percent of total Chinese oil imports as of last year, according to Saudi-backed Arab News.
While the kingdom remains a key supplier to its Chinese partner, oil relations may have been slightly upbeat this year as a sanctioned Russia dumps its barrels at a discount on the Asian market.
In addition to oil exports, Saudi Arabia has increased its Chinese investments this year, culminating in Aramco’s massive $10 billion investment in a refinery and petrochemical complex in northeastern China.
Those close ties have been years in the making as both countries have sought to diversify their security and energy sources, experts say.
“Now is the height of bilateral relations between the two since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992,” Shaojin Chai, an assistant professor at the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, told CNN.
“They are becoming closer as both sides need each other in many areas: energy transition, economic diversification, defense capability development for KSA and climate change, to name but a few,” Chai said, referring to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Arabia and added that “Security risk diversification entails KSA including the rise of China in its hedge.”
While China and Saudi Arabia’s friendship has blossomed over the decades, they appear to have grown closer as both find themselves in precarious positions vis-à-vis the US.
A staunch US ally for eight long decades, Saudi Arabia has resented what it sees as a declining US presence in the region, especially amid growing threats from Iran and its armed proxies in the Middle East.
An economic mammoth to the east, China is at odds with the US over Taiwan, the democratically-ruled island of 24 million people that Beijing claims as its territory, even though it has never controlled it.
US President Joe Biden has repeatedly promised to help Taiwan in the event of an attack by China, which has not ruled out using force to “reunify” the island.
The thorny issue has seriously strained a precarious relationship between Washington and Beijing, which are already competing for influence in the volatile Middle East.
National Security Council spokesman Kirby added on Wednesday: “The Middle East is definitely one of those areas where (China) wants to deepen their level of influence.”
“It’s probably no surprise that President Xi is traveling, and it’s certainly no surprise that he chose to go to the Middle East,” he said.
Kirby added that the US strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia continues, despite the dispute over oil production.
And he said it was up to Riyadh and Beijing to make their own decisions about their bilateral relations.
“Sovereign nations have every right to maintain bilateral relations as they see fit,” he said. “We would let China and Saudi Arabia speak for themselves about this particular visit. We are not asking nations to choose between the United States and China.”
Meanwhile, China is strengthening its ties with other Gulf monarchies, as well as with US enemies Iran and Russia.
“If they signal anything to the rest of the world, I suspect it’s mainly that they are two important countries with a deep interest-based relationship,” said Jonathan Fulton, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
“At a time when negative perceptions of China dominate much of the West, Xi will be lavishly welcomed in Saudi Arabia, the most important Arab state, the most important country in global Islam and a major player in global energy markets,” Fulton stated. he told CNN.
“And the Saudis can show that they remain important to extraregional powers, even if their relationship with Washington is difficult,” he added.
