RIYADH, 23 April 2006 — Saudi Arabia and China yesterday signed five key pacts to strengthen cooperation in security, defense, trade, health and youth affairs. The agreements were signed by senior officials from both countries in the presence of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Chinese President Hu Jintao. Hu, who arrived here earlier yesterday at the head of a high-level delegation, held talks with Abdullah on major regional and international issues and ways of boosting relations. Prior to their summit talks, Abdullah hosted a grand ceremony at Al-Yamamah Palace to welcome the distinguished guest. This was attended by Crown Prince Sultan; Prince Abdul Rahman, deputy minister of defense and aviation; Interior Minister Prince Naif; and Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal. In his brief speech, the king outlined the strong relations between the two countries and hoped the ties would improve further in the coming years. A security cooperation agreement was signed by Interior Minister Prince Naif and the Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, while a defense system contract was inked by Prince Khaled ibn Sultan, assistant minister of defense and aviation, and the chairman of China North Industries Group. The accord on health cooperation was signed by Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie and Foreign Minister Li. Abdallah S. Jum’ah, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco signed a framework agreement with Shen Tonghai, chairman of Sinopec. An official from the Chinese Embassy told Arab News that the agreement between Saudi oil giant Aramco and Sinopec was geared to extend the existing cooperation between the two organizations. Sinopec, China’s second-largest oil producer, won an oil exploration deal in Saudi Arabia two years ago. Under the agreement, Sinopec is currently exploring natural gas reserves in an area of 40,000 sq km in Al-Rub Al-Khali, or the Empty Quarter. It is also engaged in building a refinery with Saudi Aramco in the Chinese province of Fujian. Another joint venture oil refinery is planned in the city of Qingdao. Elaborating on the agreement on health affairs, the Chinese official said that under the accord, the Kingdom has agreed to recruit a large number of doctors and paramedics from China. He added that the two countries have agreed to cooperate with each other in the fight against communicable diseases such as H5N1 avian flu and SARS. According to the agreement, arrangements will be made to introduce Chinese traditional medicine to the Kingdom. An agreement on youth affairs was also signed between the General Presidency for Youth Welfare and its Chinese counterpart to carry out programs in the field of youth affairs. President Hu later paid a visit to the SABIC headquarters in the capital where he was received by Mohammed Al-Mady, its chief executive, and other SABIC officials. Prince Saud ibn Abdullah ibn Thunayan, chairman of SABIC, said plans to build an oil refinery and ethylene plant at Dalian, northeast of China, were on track. He said the project would cost $5.2 billion. SABIC exports petrochemicals worth $2 billion to China. Mady said SABIC was looking forward to expanding its activities in China by establishing mega joint ventures and opening new marketing offices. The president also had discussions with Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company. They discussed prospects of expanding the prince’s investments in China. Alwaleed owns three Four Seasons hotels in China in addition to investments in the banking sector. Hu also met with leading Saudi businessmen and explored joint investment and trade opportunities. Bilateral trade volume hit $2.7 billion during the first two months of 2006, up 43 percent over the same period last year. Of the total, the export volume of China was $480 million while that of Saudi Arabia was $2.21 billion. With approximately 22.18 million tons of oil exported to China last year, the Kingdom has become Beijing’s biggest oil supplier. China’s oil imports from Saudi Arabia are predicted to be around 25 million barrels by the end of this year.
|
