China, Saudi Arabia made 30 agreements worth $10 billion

Riyadh – With Saudi Arabia coming out of US influence, China has increased the intensity of bilateral cooperation. China and Saudi made 30 agreements worth about $10 billion during this period. Among these, agreements made in artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and the energy sector draw attention. Due to this, the US influence in the Gulf region has ended, and China-Saudi cooperation will increase in the future, Chinese mouthpieces claim.

The 10th Arab-China Business Conference has begun in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. In this two-day meeting, there were claims of about 3,500 representatives of both countries to be present, along with the Saudi Foreign Minister and China’s Trade Minister. On the first day of this meeting, the Saudi mouthpiece provided information about Saudi making agreements worth $9.9 billion with Chinese companies.

Moreover, Saudi’s Amar Al-Oula and China’s Zhonghuan International Group Company have made a deal of $530 million. The Chinese company will assist Saudi in mining iron. At the same time, Saudi’s ASK Group and China’s China National Geological and Mining Corporation have signed an agreement of $500 million related to copper mining.

Along with this cooperation in the mineral sector, Saudi has also signed agreements with companies in China’s artificial intelligence and electric vehicle sector. These include the deal to start a factory for the manufacture of electric vehicles and the manufacture of self-driven vehicles. At the same time, Chinese government companies have made major fuel-related agreements with Saudi, and its details have not been revealed yet.

Besides, China has increased its investment in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries for the last two years. Last year, China signed 35 agreements with Saudi for 30 billion dollars. US Biden administration had ignored this investment by China in Saudi. On the contrary, sharp differences were seen between the US and Saudi relations simultaneously.

The Biden administration had held Saudi responsible for the Yemeni military crackdown and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and threatened to impose sanctions on Saudi. Meanwhile, the military aid being provided to Saudi was also cut. This directly affected the relationship between the US and Saudi, of which China took advantage. In the last two years, China has strengthened its relations with Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf countries. In addition, the US has lost the trust of the Gulf allies due to the mistakes of the Biden administration; such criticism surfaces in the US.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Saudi Arabia last week and met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to reduce the differences with Saudi. But, there were claims that Foreign Minister Blinken had failed to assure Saudi. Just a week later, China-Saudi’s agreement of $10 billion indicates this.

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