Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Arab leaders in the Saudi capital on Friday for summits he has described as "milestone events" at a time of economic uncertainty and geopolitical realignment.

The meetings come on the third and final day of Xi's first visit to Saudi Arabia since 2016 and only his third overseas trip since the coronavirus pandemic began.

On Thursday, he met with King Salman and Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, announcing deals on everything from hydrogen energy to housing, although few details were released.

Friday's agenda was expected to include a summit with the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council as well as a broader China-Arab summit.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Tunisian President Kais Saied were among the heads of state who arrived on Thursday, with leaders from Qatar, Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere also planning to attend.

"China looks forward to working with Saudi Arabia and Arab countries to make the two summits milestone events in the history of China-Arab relations and China-GCC relations," Xi said on Thursday in remarks carried by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

The Gulf countries, strategic partners of Washington, are bolstering ties with China as part of an eastward turn that involves diversifying their fossil fuel-reliant economies.

Meanwhile China is trying to widen its sphere of influence, notably through its Belt and Road Initiative, in which it is providing funding for infrastructure projects around the world.

- 'Prestige' trade deals -

Officials have provided few details about Friday's agenda, but one potential area of focus is a China-GCC free trade agreement that has been under discussion for nearly two decades.

"China will want to draw the lengthy negotiations to a close, as FTAs with major trading blocs is a matter of prestige for Beijing," said Robert Mogielnicki of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

"It's not as simple for the GCC states, which seem to be more invested in advancing bilateral ties and are engaged in varying degrees of regional economic competition with their neighbouring member states."

A breakthrough on the trade deal could help Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter and the Middle East's biggest economy, diversify its economy in line with the Vision 2030 reform agenda championed by Prince Mohammed.

Saudi state media have said that bilateral deals worth about $30 billion were expected to be signed during the visit.

Yet Mogielnicki said the significance of any announcements would only be clear if they went beyond pledges.

"When it comes to China's bilateral relations with the Gulf and broader Middle East, one must remember that signing MoUs (memoranda of understanding) and making investment pledges is much easier than actually committing capital," he said.

Xi's Middle East trip has already earned a rebuke from the White House, which on Wednesday warned of "the influence that China is trying to grow around the world", calling its objectives "not conducive to preserving the international rules-based order".

As Xi visits, resource-rich Gulf seeks stronger China ties
Dubai (AFP) Dec 9, 2022 - Arab Gulf countries, strategic partners of Washington, are bolstering ties with China as part of an eastward turn that involves diversifying their fossil fuel-heavy economies.

As a Gulf-China summit takes place in Riyadh on Friday, AFP examines key areas of economic cooperation between the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council and the world's second-largest economy.

- Energy -

By 2020, China had risen to become a primary trading partner with the GCC states, especially in the field of energy.

China imports hydrocarbons from Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which alone accounted for 17 percent of the Asian giant's oil imports in 2021.

Qatar supplies China with liquefied natural gas -- trade that has been bolstered by the global energy crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine.

In November, Qatar announced a 27-year natural gas deal with China worth more than $60 billion, saying it was the longest such agreement to date.

- Free-trade talks -

In July 2004, China and the GCC announced the launch of negotiations for a free-trade agreement.

Nearly two decades later, and after nine rounds of talks, the parties have yet to clinch a final deal, despite pledging in January to "accelerate the process".

Friday's Gulf-China summit is widely seen as an opportunity to jumpstart the negotiations.

Chinese trade relations are particularly strong with the UAE, which is the largest Middle East market for Chinese products and is a major export hub for Chinese goods, especially to the rest of the Arab world.

- Investment -

Between 2005 and 2022, Chinese companies invested more than $107 billion in GCC states, according to data collected by the American Enterprise Institute.

The largest share of Chinese investment went to Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's biggest economy.

Investments in the kingdom were valued at around $49.6 billion over the past 17 years, according to the think tank.

For its part, Saudi Arabia was the 12th-largest investor in China in 2019, with nearly $2.3 billion, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

Gulf sovereign wealth funds are also increasingly looking to Asia.

In 2015, China and the UAE agreed to create a $10 billion joint investment fund. The UAE-China Joint Investment Cooperation Fund is managed by the Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala and two Chinese state institutions.

- Weapons and technology -

As Washington watches closely, the GCC has also turned to China for technology and arms as part of the region's efforts to diversify its suppliers.

In February, the UAE said it would purchase 12 attack planes from China, a few weeks after threatening to cancel its purchase of F-35s from the United States.

In March, Saudi Arabia and China signed an agreement to jointly develop military drones in the oil-rich kingdom, according to Saudi-owned media.

Eager to curb their dependence on hydrocarbon sales, GCC rulers are also turning to China for technological collaboration.

Since 2019, most GCC telecom firms have signed 5G contracts with Huawei.

The firm is controversial in Europe and the United States over accusations that it is close to China's military and that its technology could be used for espionage, charges Beijing has denied.

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Xi visit spotlights warming Saudi-China ties, and their 'limits'
Riyadh (AFP) Dec 6, 2022
When Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Saudi Arabia from Wednesday, the oil-rich kingdom will seek mostly economic gains rather than a meaningful shift away from its longtime protector the United States, analysts say. Xi will arrive on Wednesday for a three-day visit including meetings with Saudi royals, the regional Gulf Cooperation Council and other Middle East leaders, Saudi state media said. It coincides with heightened tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United States over issues rangi ... read more