BEIJING: SaudiCrown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met China's President Xi Jinping on Friday andbagged a $10-billion oil deal, pressing on with his diplomatic charm offensivein Asia. Prince Mohammed arrived in Beijing on Thursday following visits toPakistan and India. "China is a good friend and partner to SaudiArabia," Xi told Prince Mohammed in a meeting in the Great Hall of thePeople. "Saudi Arabia's relations with China can be traced back a verylong time in the past," the crown prince said. "Over such a longperiod of exchanges with China, we have never experienced any problems withChina." He met with Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng earlier on Friday.
"Is thecrown prince's tour symbolic of Saudi Arabia's pivot to the East? Yes,"Najah Al-Otaibi, a senior analyst at the pro-Saudi think-tank ArabiaFoundation, told AFP. "Riyadh wants to strengthen alliances in Asia -especially now with the continuing fallout with the United States over (Saudijournalist Jamal) Khashoggi's murder and other issues and attempts by the EU toput Riyadh on a black list over money laundering allegations."
But China islooking to strengthen its economic ties with the kingdom, as Beijing pursuesits ambitious Belt and Road trade infrastructure initiative, while Riyadh rollsout "Saudi Vision 2030" - the crown prince's major program todiversify the national economy away from oil. Mohammed told the ChinesePresident they could join the two projects "to realise more progress andjointly confront challenges". Vice Premier Han suggested during hismeeting with the crown prince that the two countries deepen partnerships inenergy, infrastructure construction, finance, and high-tech.
Riyadh's nationaloil giant Saudi Aramco said it had signed an agreement to form a Saudi-Chinesejoint venture - worth more than $10 billion - to develop a refining andpetrochemical complex in northeastern Liaoning province. The Saudi ArabianGeneral Investment Authority also announced the signing of 35 non-bindingmemorandums of understanding, including deals related to energy, mining,transportation and e-commerce. China is Saudi Arabia's largest trading partner."As the kingdom diversifies its non-oil economy, it needs a variety ofother investors with technical expertise, including the Chinese," Otaibisaid.
"Chinasteadfastly supports Saudi Arabia pushing a diversification of its economy andsocietal reforms," Xi told Mohammed, according to state broadcaster CCTV,adding he supported the hard work the kingdom has undertaken to promotestability and safety at home. National security is a potential area ofcooperation between the Gulf state and China.
The two countriesshould boost partnerships in counterterrorism and law enforcement, and exchangeexperience on combating extremism, Han said in his meeting with PrinceMohammed, according to a report by the official Chinese news agency Xinhua. TheSaudis said they "firmly supported" Beijing's efforts to keep thecountry secure, and opposed "interference by external forces in China'sinternal affairs", Xinhua added, paraphrasing remarks by the crown prince.
Riyadh hasremained silent over China's treatment of Uighurs and other mostly Muslimminorities in the far-western region of Xinjiang. Up to one million Uighurs andother minorities are being held in internment camps in Xinjiang as part of adraconian anti-terror and anti-separatist campaign, according to estimatescited by a UN panel. - AFP