China and Saudi Arabia launch a new giant project

[The SC]

July 3, 2022

The Joe Biden administration will have to work hard to restore the old relationship with its most important ally in the Middle East - Saudi Arabia. The situation for Washington is more difficult now than it was during Biden's tenure as Vice President Barack Obama. Now the United States can become at best an ally of Saudi Arabia, and not the only ally, as it was before, because the Saudis have very good relations with America's two main adversaries - Russia and China. Indeed, relations with Beijing are expanding and strengthening dynamically. Evidence for this thesis is the agreement to build a huge petrochemical center in eastern China's Shandong Province, where 26% of China's oil refining capacity is concentrated. Note that Shandong Province, the third province in China in terms of GDP, is where all the oil that Saudi Aramco supplies to the country goes.

A few years ago, Beijing acted farsightedly when it helped Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, after several failed attempts to launch the Saudi Aramco IPO. Then, Beijing helped Crown Prince Mohammed a lot, offering to buy all the shares of the giant Arab oil company offered on the stock exchange, amounting to 5%, at the right price for Riyadh. Even the Chinese, in full accordance with the wishes of the Saudi leadership, showed their willingness to carry out the entire deal in secret.

Since then, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia feels indebted to China. This has led, according to oil prices, to an embrace between the world's main oil producer and China, which, it seems, is getting stronger almost every day.


https://www.politica-eg.com/الصين-والسعودية-تطلقان-مشروعا-عملاقا/


https://www.dailysabah.com/business...mco-strikes-10b-petrochemical-deal-with-china

 

[The SC]

I wrote this post in another thread but I think that it is fitting in this thread.

A genuine question.

Has China ever been this strategically involved with a foreign country not named Russia or North Korea as China is with Saudi Arabia currently?

I am talking about the economic aspect (the 2020 Saudi Arabia-China trade volume stood at 65.2 billion USD), strategic economic cooperation (Saudi Arabia exports most of China's oil imports), Belt and Road Initiative, the military aspect (has China ever exported the DF-3 and DF-21 to anyone but Saudi Arabia?), drone exports, drone factory setup, first confirmed kill using the Chinese laser air defense system "Silent Hunter", China helping setup the domestic Saudi Arabian ballistic missile program, China helping excavate uranium within KSA and now news of the FC-31. I probably forgot a lot of other stuff.

Speaking about it, article from 4 days ago in Chinese media.

Chinese, Saudi Arabian FMs vow to deepen comprehensive strategic partnership

21:05, 08-Jul-2022

China will continue to firmly support Saudi Arabia in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and stability, and oppose any acts of interference in Saudi Arabia's internal affairs, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday.

He made the remarks when meeting with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers' meeting held in Bali, Indonesia.

China and Saudi Arabia have, as always, firmly supported each other over issues concerning their core interests, which demonstrated the important value of the China-Saudi Arabia comprehensive strategic partnership, he said.

For his part, Faisal said Saudi Arabia remains firmly committed to the one-China policy and has always stood against any foreign interference in China's internal affairs, adding that Saudi Arabia is ready to deepen the all-dimensional cooperation with China.

Both sides agreed to elevate the cooperation between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council to a higher level, speed up the negotiation on the China-GCC free trade agreement, and enhance communication and coordination within multilateral platforms including the United Nations, the G20 and the BRICS mechanism.

(Cover: Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. /China's Foreign Ministry)

Chinese, Saudi Arabian FMs vow to deepen comprehensive strategic partnership

China will continue to firmly support Saudi Arabia in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and stability, oppose any acts of interference in Saudi Arabia's internal affairs, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday.

news.cgtn.com

It is a really special relationship that is not much talked about in the media. Just like how both countries would prefer it, I suspect.

Well.. it is a comprehensive strategic parternship.. this says it all !!!