The planned gala reception is in stark contrast to the low-key audience afforded Joe Biden in June, as ties between China and the kingdom grow closer
The Chinese president Xi Jinping is expected to visit Saudi Arabia next week, where plans are under way for a gala reception to match that given toThe welcome being prepared for the Chinese leader is in stark contrast with, when the US president received a low-key reception, reflecting strained ties between the two countries and personal distaste between Biden and the de facto Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman.
Xi, however, is instead expected to receive a bells-and-whistles welcome intended to consolidate ties between Beijing and Riyadh and reinforce the image of China as an ally ofChina and Saudi Arabia have been growing closer over two decades, but ties have deepened as Prince Mohammed accumulated power in the kingdom from 2016 onwards.
Trade ties between the two countries have forged ahead at the same time as Washington has pivoted away from the Middle East. “China is Saudi Arabia’s largest trade partner. It is the largest buyer of Saudi oil,” said Mohammed Alyahya, a fellow at the Harvard Belfer Center’s Middle East Institute and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. “China is very important in the region geopolitically. It has been eyeing military bases in Africa and elsewhere. In the past its interests had been purely mercantilist, focused entirely on commerce. Now they’re increasingly looking at things through a strategic lens.
“They are particularly interested in ensuring the free flow of oil. This is the same for China as the US. The Americans say there is a diversion of bandwidth away from the region to focus on countering China in a “pivot to Asia”. The Chinese however seem to consider the region to be a primary theatre for great power competition.Xi was first invited to Riyadh in March.
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