Saudi Arabia and China, a new era of strategic relations

[Arabian Legend]

Xi calls for closer ties with Saudi Arabia

Saudi minster of defense.



China and Saudi Arabia — Beijing's biggest foreign source of crude oil — promised on Thursday to forge a stronger relationship and expand their cooperation beyond the traditional field of energy.

"We should keep energy cooperation as a pillar and expand high-tech cooperation in areas like aviation, space and new energy and forge a closer partnership," President Xi Jinping told visiting Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People.

"We have always seen Saudi Arabia as a good friend, brother and partner in the Middle East and the Gulf region," Xi said, adding the two countries should elevate the level of their strategic relations.

He told the crown prince, also Saudi Arabia's first deputy prime minister and defense minister, that China wants to work with Saudi Arabia to push forward negotiations on the free trade agreement between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

It has been expected that the prince's visit will help push forward the restart of the negotiations.

The GCC is a political and economic union of six Arab states that border the Gulf — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. All six are major oil exporters.

The FTA negotiations began in 2004 and have produced a number of major agreements. China's trade volume with GCC countries in 2011 surpassed $100 billion for the first time. In 2012, trade exceeded $150 billion.

The president also invited Saudi Arabia to take part in China's proposal to build the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and push forward transportation infrastructure construction linking each other.

On the situation in the Gulf region and the Middle East, Xi said China supports Saudi Arabia's efforts to maintain stability in the country and the region at large. He offered to consolidate communication and cooperation on these issues to jointly promote regional peace.

"Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to China's great impact in the region (the Gulf region and the Middle East) and appreciates the objective and fair stance that China has all along held," the prince said.

He said he expects Beijing to play a constructive role in the early settlement of the Palestine and Syria issues and to push for regional denuclearization.

"My visit at the king's command aims to strengthen strategic relations with China," the prince told Xi.

In the few minutes at the start of their talks when reporters were allowed to stay, Xi said he appreciated Saudi Arabia's generous donations after the May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, which killed more than 87,000 people in Sichuan province.

Saudi Arabia donated $50 million in cash and $10 million in relief materials. "The Chinese people will not forget it," Xi said.

The prince began his four-day official visit to China on Thursday. Vice-President Li Yuanchao hosted a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, followed by the meeting with Xi. The president also hosted a banquet in honor of the prince.

According to Al Arabiya News, the prince is likely to meet Premier Li Keqiang and Defense Minister Chang Wanquan for "intensive discussions".

"We in China regard this visit as very important and of high interest for us, as it would boost strategic relations," Chinese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Li Chengwen told the Saudi-based Arab News.

Xi calls for closer ties with Saudi Arabia - Headlines, features, photo and videos from ecns.cn|china|news|chinanews|ecns|cns

 

[godofwar]

With US set to become self reliant and even competitor of Saudi Arabia in oil production, expect China to be the new BFF.
US will no longer care if the gulf is stable , that responsibility falls on China now.

 

[Pakistanisage]

We Pakistanis just love to see our two closest allies forge ties with each other.

 

[Arabian Legend]

With US set to become self reliant and even competitor of Saudi Arabia in oil production, expect China to be the new BFF.
US will no longer care if the gulf is , that responsibility falls on China now.

Saudi Arabia has a lot of oil and Shale gas that kept for the right time so now way for the US to compete in the oil market. Chia economy is soon to surpass the US. Who knows maybe Saudi Arabia will take the yuan instead of the dollar in the near future, that means the value of dollar will shrink.

You forgot the geo-strategic dimensions, it is more than just oil.

 

[godofwar]

Saudi Arabia has a lot of oil and Shale gas that kept for the right time so now way for the US to compete in the oil market. Chia economy is soon to surpass the US. Who knows may Saudi Arabia will take the yuan instead of the dollar in the near future, that means the value of dollar will shrink.

You forgot the geo strategic dimensions, it is more than just oil.

It is just the oil.I am talking about the present.
Everyone agrees that eventually the world will move from oil based to renewable energy because the planet can not take another 300 years of greenhouse emissions.Especially with Asia and Africa rising out of poverty.

How soon that happens depends on when the west,which leads in technology, focuses its attention on alternate energy sources.
Or maybe China will get there first.

P.S And the only geo-strategic importance of GCC I am aware of is to maintain global oil routes.
Please educate me if I am wrong.


P.P.S With US producing its own oil, SA will loose its biggest customer who will be supplanted by China.
This will aslo decrease the price of oil, which will affect the economies which depend on oil export the most.
So naturally, Saudi will pay more attention to relationship with China than the US.
And China will have to bear more responsibility in this new arrangement because it needs those routes open, more than the US.
That was the point I was making.

 

[xuxu1457]

China needs Saudi Arabia, the Prosperity and stability of Saudi Arabia fit the interest of China

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

With US set to become self reliant and even competitor of Saudi Arabia in oil production, expect China to be the new BFF.
US will no longer care if the gulf is stable , that responsibility falls on China now.

We maintain strong ties with all countries including the US, China, and so on. This has nothing to do with friendship, it just is business.


The US imports less than %8 of its oil from KSA already, and the stability of countries are as a matter of fact the responsibilities per each country.

 

[godofwar]

We maintain strong ties with all countries including the US, China, and so on. This has nothing to do with friendship, it just is business.


The US imports less than %8 of its oil from KSA already, and the stability of countries are as a matter of fact the responsibilities per each country.

It does not matter how much oil US buys directly from Saudi because oil supply chains are inter-linked in today's globalized world.

Fact is US used to be the biggest consumer and biggest importer of oil.
Now it is set to become not just self reliant, but a net exporter of oil.So naturally China which will be the largest importer of oil will become Saudi Arabia's most important trade partner.

And I talking about this being business exactly when I said BFF.
Just adding a little zip to my argument.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

It does not matter how much oil US buys directly from Saudi because oil supply chains are inter-linked in today's globalized world.

Fact is US used to be the biggest consumer and biggest importer of oil.
Now it is set to become not just self reliant, but a net exporter of oil.So naturally China which will be the largest importer of oil will become Saudi Arabia's most important trade partner.

And I talking about this being business exactly when I said BFF.
Just adding a little zip to my argument.

It does not matter how much oil US buys directly from Saudi because oil supply chains are inter-linked in today's globalized world.

It actually does. For example, a few decades ago, the US never imported much of oil from Canada, and look at them now, they're the US's biggest oil exporters.


The oil markets are widely open to everybody. No country in the world can monopolize it, there are 20 and something states which export oil nowadays, and I'm sure the world can take up some more.

We did heavily invest in the US's local oil market, and industry as well:

SABIC plans new US ethane cracker, possibly more | Hydrocarbon Processing | April 2013
Saudi petrochemical giant expects to enter U.S. shale market this year | Financial Post
SABIC’s Innovative Plastics Business Makes Major Investments To Drive Competitiveness And Sustainability At Its Largest U.S. Facility

 

[Falcon29]

I don't see a new era of anything, when arab military leaderships see a change only then can we call it a new era in the Middle East.

 

[godofwar]

It actually does. For example, a few decades ago, the US never imported much of oil from Canada, and look at them now, they're the US's biggest oil exporters.


The oil markets are widely open to everybody. No country in the world can monopolize it, there are 20 and something states which export oil nowadays, and I'm sure the world can take up some more.

We did heavily invest in the US's local oil market, and industry as well:

SABIC plans new US ethane cracker, possibly more | Hydrocarbon Processing | April 2013
Saudi petrochemical giant expects to enter U.S. shale market this year | Financial Post
SABIC’s Innovative Plastics Business Makes Major Investments To Drive Competitiveness And Sustainability At Its Largest U.S. Facility

When I said it doesn't matter from where US bought oil I meant in the sense of global oil prices.Reduction in US oil imports will decrease the demand and hence the price.
US prioritized Saudi relationship because because it needed oil lanes open so that international oil prices won't spike.

But with US exporting oil now, the biggest looser in case of a spike in oil prices would be China, not US.
So China will try to replace US as Saudi Arabia's most important partner while US will not care.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

The US-Saudi relations go far beyond stabilizing the international prices of oil. There are other countries aside from KSA when it comes to that, and thusly, KSA can't monopolize what the prices of oil should be - at least in the long run -

Both of KSA and the US share political, economic, security interests, that are much important than the " stabilizing " the prices of oil.

US-Saudi relations: Eighty years as partners | Arab News — Saudi Arabia News, Middle East News, Opinion, Economy and more.

When I said it doesn't matter from where US bought oil I meant in the sense of global oil prices.Reduction in US oil imports will decrease the demand and hence the price.
US prioritized Saudi relationship because because it needed oil lanes open so that international oil prices won't spike.

But with US exporting oil now, the biggest looser in case of a spike in oil prices would be China, not US.
So China will try to replace US as Saudi Arabia's most important partner while US will not care.

I don't think that our relations with China will get better than what it is today, same goes with the US.

 

[anonymus]

When I said it doesn't matter from where US bought oil I meant in the sense of global oil prices.Reduction in US oil imports will decrease the demand and hence the price.
US prioritized Saudi relationship because because it needed oil lanes open so that international oil prices won't spike.

But with US exporting oil now, the biggest looser in case of a spike in oil prices would be China, not US.
So China will try to replace US as Saudi Arabia's most important partner while US will not care.

But China does not have ability to project Naval power beyond Malacca strait and US could destroy Iranian Navy and Airforce without even trying.

+ US may not need oil but it would not fancy losing middle east to Chinese influence when it is busy with fencing off China.

So at least in medium term US would remain reigning power in middle east.

 

[godofwar]

The US-Saudi relations go far beyond stabilizing the international prices of oil. There are other countries aside from KSA when it comes to that, and thusly, KSA can't monopolize what the prices of oil should be - at least in the long run -

Both of KSA and the US share political, economic, security interests, that are much important than the " stabilizing " the prices of oil.

US-Saudi relations: Eighty years as partners | Arab News — Saudi Arabia News, Middle East News, Opinion, Economy and more.



I don't think that our relations with China will get better than what it is today, same goes with the US.

If you take out oil and petrodollars out of equation, US Saudi relations do not amount to more than lip service.
All these political,economical and security relations are rooted in oil.

And China Saudi relations are going to become more important for Saudis than US relations.This fact is blindingly obvious to anyone who follows geo-strategical discourse.

But China does not have ability to project Naval power beyond Malacca strait and US could destroy Iranian Navy and Airforce without even trying.

+ US may not need oil but it would not fancy losing middle east to Chinese influence when it is busy with fencing off China.

So at least in medium term US would remain reigning power in middle east.

Yes I was talking of longish term trend, maybe 30 years into the future.
China may supplant US in economic terms in near future but building relationships takes time.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

No rational human being would ever consider the American-Saudi effort of foiling 400 terror attacks worldwide as a lip service.

And no rational human being would ever consider the Saudi-America effort of promoting stability in the ME as a lip service.

Maybe devaluing the human's life is your thing with that lip service, but surely it isn't ours.

And no rational human being would ever consider the Saudi aid to NASA, MIT, and other US medical research centers as a lip service. KSA helped many notable institutions to carry out projects of extreme importance to humanity.

And no rational human being would ever consider the Saudi-American private sector investments, commerce as a lip service.

And no rational human being would ever consider a non-oil $80 billion trade volume as a lip service.

And no rational human being would ever consider the public, private Saudi investment in the local US market as a public investment.

And no rational human being would ever consider purchasing public bonds as a lip service.

And no rational human being would ever consider the US-Saudi multi-billion industrial projects as a lip service.

And no rational human being would ever consider the Saudi-US educational relations as a lip service.

And no rational human being would ever consider the two-way Saudi-American infrastructural investments as a lip service.


I'm a dual Saudi-US national, and that lip service part of yours insults my Intelligence as I can always speak with the authority on that.

If you take out oil and petrodollars out of equation, US Saudi relations do not amount to more than lip service.
All these political,economical and security relations are rooted in oil.

And China Saudi relations are going to become more important for Saudis than US relations.This fact is blindingly obvious to anyone who follows geo-strategical discourse.

Those who follow the " Geo-strategical " discourse probably can't distinguish between the concept of business and politics. It's been said that a given group of people, can only think in the categories their mindsets allow them to think of.

We value our relations with everybody, and we can't afford losing Zimbabwe, let alone the US or China.


It's been nice talking to you, keep in touch.

If you take out oil and petrodollars out of equation, US Saudi relations do not amount to more than lip service.
All these political,economical and security relations are rooted in oil.

And China Saudi relations are going to become more important for Saudis than US relations.This fact is blindingly obvious to anyone who follows geo-strategical discourse.



Yes I was talking of longish term trend, maybe 30 years into the future.
China may supplant US in economic terms in near future but building relationships takes time.