Middle East wealth flows to China
Oil-rich Gulf states are deepening ties with China as concerns grow about the future of longstanding security partnerships with the United States.
Seven months after President Xi Cingping attended the first China-Gulf summit in Riyadh, economic relations between the world’s second-largest economy and countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates began to go far beyond crude oil purchases dominated by Beijing.
According to data compiled by Bloomberg, the value of Gulf companies’ acquisitions and investments in China rose more than 1,000 percent year-on-year to $5.3 billion. According to the data, this year is about to be the busiest in history in terms of the number of operations of this type.
Saudi officials describe China as an indispensable partner for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s multi-billion dollar economic and social transformation plan, Vision 2030, and the $26,000 mark of China’s Tabuk region near Saudi Arabia’s borders. with Jordan and Egypt. He affirms that he has made a series of agreements for the Neom project, which will cover 500 square meters.
On the other hand, China’s relations with Saudi Arabia are also developing outside of economic relations. Xi played a role in a key deal that restored ties between arch rivals, signed in Beijing in March, by offering to mediate negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
CHINA’S RISING INFLUENCE CHALLENGES THE US
The United States is concerned that China’s growing influence in the Middle East could affect long-term US interests.
The commanding general of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), Michael Erik Kurilla, warned in his last speech before Congress that, although the US region.
Kurilla said Chinese military sales in the region have risen 80 percent over the past decade, compared with a 30 percent drop in US sales.
Hasan Alhasan, a research fellow at the Bahrain-based Institute for Strategic Studies who meets regularly with senior Gulf officials, said dissatisfaction with the United States has grown in the Middle East.
Expressing that foreign policies in the Gulf have been redefined in accordance with economic agendas, Alhasan said that they “will give priority to relations that serve their national economic vision.”
Gulf officials, on the other hand, say their moves against China are not aimed at replacing Washington with Beijing as its main partner, but instead want a broader set of global alliances.
THE KEY TRADE FOR THE CHINA-GULF RELATIONSHIP
Trade, especially oil, remains the key to the relationship between China and the Gulf.
Two-way trade flows between Saudi Arabia and China increased from $834 million three decades ago to $117 billion last year. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, bilateral trade between the UAE and China has risen from $1.15 billion in 1992 to almost $107 billion in 2022.
The United Arab Emirates said in a statement that it expects trade with China to continue to increase, as with other key economic partners.
As trade ties between the Gulf countries and China grow, so do energy deals. The latest major deal came when Saudi Arabian energy company Aramco bought a 10 percent stake in China’s Rongsheng Petrochemical for $3.6 billion.
SOLD OUT MEETINGS WITH US
While ties between the Gulf countries and China were expanding, negotiations with the US were suspended as a result of some tensions with the US.
In 2021, the United Arab Emirates suspended talks on a $23 billion deal to hide the F-35 jet and other weapons after the US rejected some of its terms, including a request for China’s Huawei to be released. removed from your telecommunications network.
The United Arab Emirates subsequently purchased the L15 light attack and combat trainer aircraft from China.
A senior Saudi official said that because his country does not view the United States as a reliable security partner, it sees a need to reduce tensions with other countries in the region and find other partners to work with.