Saudi Arabia, China stress importance of joint cooperation in all fields

Flags of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and China

Saudi Arabia and China released a joint statement today, Dec. 9, after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Riyadh.

The two countries also agreed to enhance cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear power, according to the same statement, which was released following a meeting between Jinping, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh.

Both sides signed several agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in various fields, including green energy, green hydrogen, photovoltaic energy, information technology and cloud services.

Further, 12 agreements and MoUs for cooperation in the fields of hydrogen energy, judiciary, Chinese language education, housing, direct investment, radio and television, digital economy, economic development, standardization, news coverage, tax administration and anti-corruption.

Nine agreements and MoUs were also inked between the government and private sectors, besides the signing of 25 agreements between private sector companies in the two countries.

Saudi Arabia and China stressed the importance of enhancing cooperation through high-level Saudi-Chinese Joint Committees and strengthening communication between the government and private sectors in the two countries. This is to discuss economic, trade and investment opportunities in a way that would translate them into tangible partnerships.

The two sides also agreed to explore the common investment opportunities in petrochemicals sector, develop promising projects in petrochemical conversion techniques and enhance joint cooperation in various fields and projects. This includes electricity, photovoltaic energy, wind energy, among other sources of renewable energy.

This development will include finding innovative uses of hydrocarbon resources, energy efficiency, localization of energy sector components and its supply chains.

The two countries focused on bettering non-oil bilateral trade. The statement said that the two nationals aim to facilitate the Kingdom’s non-oil exports to China, as well as to increase the joint quality investment between them.

They will enhance cooperation in a number of fields, including automotive, supply chains, logistics, water desalination, infrastructure, manufacturing, mining and the financial sector to benefit from trade and investment opportunities aligned with Vision 2030 and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Saudi Arabia also invited Chinese experts to participate in the future mega-projects in the Kingdom. It also called on Chinese businesses to establish a regional headquarters in the Kingdom.

The two countries stated the importance of resolving the Russian conflict with Ukraine by peaceful means.