$50 Billion..Investments between Saudi Arabia and China

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Bandar Al-Khorayef, stressed the importance of the growing strategic partnership between the Kingdom and China, which was reflected in all areas of cooperation, including industry and mining.

He explained that cooperation between the two countries witnessed remarkable growth during the past five years, as non-oil exports during the year 2021 amounted to more than 36 billion riyals, while the Kingdom’s imports from China during the same period amounted to 112 billion riyals, and petrochemicals and minerals topped the list of Saudi exports to China. While heavy machinery, electronics, vehicles and spare parts were China's most prominent exports to the Kingdom.

6 joint projects 

He pointed out that joint projects occupy an important part of the volume of cooperation between the two countries, as the Saudi Industrial Fund contributes to financing 6 joint projects, and the two countries have concluded several agreements to establish joint projects, including agreements signed during the visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to China in February.

He stressed the availability of suitable infrastructure in the Kingdom for the development of many industrial sectors, the most prominent of which are: machinery and equipment, industries related to fish farming, medical devices and medicines, and cars (cars, electric cars, batteries, and glass).

Strategic partnership

In the field of mining, Al-Khorayef renewed the Kingdom's keenness to enhance cooperation with China in the field of mining, as China is one of the countries that possess huge reserves of some mineral resources, because China occupies an advanced position in the production of phosphates, rare earth elements, quartz, and copper. Diamond-producing countries and very advanced in all mineral industries.

The Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources referred to the important role played by the Saudi-Chinese Joint Committee in developing comprehensive strategic partnership relations between the Kingdom and China, and the Ministry has drawn up plans to strengthen relations in the fields of industry and mining, within the framework of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 of promising industrial opportunities for partnership between the two countries. Especially since the vision is integrated in many objectives with the Chinese “Belt and Road Initiative”.

Great opportunities 

The Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources noted the great opportunities for future areas of cooperation between the two countries, stating that China represents a global weight in the field of industrial investments.

There are a number of investments in the Kingdom in the field of petrochemical, manufacturing, mining, renewable energy and others, and the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources seeks to localize technologies. Industrial, developing current investments and enhancing cooperation with Chinese companies by investing in industrial fields, and working to enhance and increase the flow of Chinese investments to the Kingdom, and this would increase the contribution to the gross domestic product, and increase the creation of job opportunities.

Field of investment

Al-Khorayef indicated that the field of investment enjoys a large share of the volume of cooperation, as the cities of the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones host 7 Chinese factories operating in various fields, including: plastics, metals, ceramics, concrete, and food industries, in addition to about 10 other factories in stages. Different from planning, construction and implementation, and with regard to Saudi investments, there are about 12 projects for the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu with Chinese companies in different stages, some of which are in operation, and others are under procedure or design.

Investment agreements 

The kingdom’s investment minister, Khalid Al Falih, said that About $50 billion of investment agreements were signed during the China summit held in Saudi Arabia last week. The pacts included both the private and public sectors.

Khalid Al Falih,later said the agreements were only between Saudi Arabia and China, and did not include other Middle East countries that attended summits with the Chinese leader.

Last week’s summit in which Chinese President Xi Jinping was hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman showcased the Gulf’s deepening ties with Beijing. But while the visit featured warm words about unity between China and the Middle East, most of the agreements announced were memorandums of understanding, and lacked firm timelines or commitments.

Saudi and chinese companies 

Saudi and Chinese companies signed more than 30 agreements covering green energy, logistics, cloud computing and housing, according to a statement.

China is seeking to strengthen coordination with Saudi Arabia and its neighbors on energy policy and exploration. The kingdom, along with Russia, is the de facto leader of OPEC+ a producers’ cartel that pumps roughly half the world’s oil.