Saudi and China sign agreements for Drone Manufacturing and fuel

Riyadh/Beijing: – Saudi Arabian company ACES has signed an important agreement with China for manufacturing military drones. This agreement indicates the growing military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China. Discord between the United States and Saudi Arabia in the defence sector has surfaced over the last year. Against this background, this agreement signed by Saudi Arabia with China has become significant. Following this, Saudi Arabia and China signed deals worth $28 billion, including $10 billion worth of fuel agreements.

Over the last few years, China has emerged as the highest importer of crude oil from the Middle East. While importing fuels, China has initiated steps to increase its influence in the Middle East. At the same time, the United States, on the other hand, is reducing its cooperation with the Gulf countries. The United States has withdrawn the air defence systems deployed in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The bombers based in these countries also have been recalled. Hurt with these developments, the Middle Eastern nations are trying to increase cooperation with China.

In January, a high-level delegation comprising Foreign Ministers of Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia visited China. After that, a virtual meeting was held between the Defence Ministers of China and Saudi Arabia in the next few days. Saudi Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid Bin Salman expressed confidence that the military cooperation with China would be taken to a new high. The agreement signed for drone manufacturing also seems to be a part of the same efforts.

As per the agreement, ACES company in Saudi Arabia will be manufacturing Military Drones in collaboration with the Chinese company ‘China Electronics Technology Group’. This is the second significant agreement between China and Saudi Arabia for drone manufacturing in the last five years. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabian delegation is on a visit to China and 35 contracts worth $28 billion have been signed between the two counties. These include a deal of the ARAMCO company worth $10 billion.