Saudi bags $10bn oil deal

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud met China’s President Xi Jinping yesterday and bagged a $10-billion oil deal. Prince Mohammed arrived in Beijing on Thursday following visits to Pakistan and India. “China is a good friend and partner to Saudi Arabia,” Xi told Prince Mohammed in a meeting in the Great Hall of the People. “Saudi Arabia’s relations with China can be traced back a very long time in the past,” the crown prince said.

“Over such a long period of exchanges with China, we have never experienced any problems with China.” He met with Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng earlier on Friday. China is looking to strengthen its economic ties with the kingdom, as Beijing pursues its ambitious Belt and Road trade infrastructure initiative, while Riyadh rolls out “Saudi Vision 2030”. Prince Mohammed told the Chinese President they could join the two projects “to realise more progress and jointly confront challenges”.

Vice Premier Han suggested during his meeting with the crown prince that the two countries deepen partnerships in energy, infrastructure construction, finance, and high-tech. Saudi Aramco said it had signed an agreement to form a Saudi-Chinese joint venture -- worth more than $10 billion -- to develop a refining and petrochemical complex in northeastern Liaoning province.

The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority also announced the signing of 35 non-binding memorandums of understanding, including deals related to energy, mining, transportation and e-commerce. The two countries should boost partnerships in counterterrorism and law enforcement, and exchange experience on combating extremism, Han said in his meeting with Mohammed. The Saudis said they “firmly supported” Beijing’s efforts to keep the country secure, and opposed “interference by external forces in China’s internal affairs”, Xinhua added.