Riyadh summits indicate establishment of new economic order

The three summits held in Riyadh from Dec. 7-9 — the Saudi-Chinese Summit, the Gulf-China Summit for Cooperation and Development, and the Arab-China Summit for Cooperation and Development — are of exceptional value. They are no less important than the meeting in 1945 between King Abdulaziz and President Franklin D. Roosevelt that heralded the dawn of Saudi-US relations.

This Chinese negotiation with Saudi Arabia and other Arab states is not sudden. It has been arranged and agreed upon for a long time. The Kingdom and other Arab states are trying to invest in a permanent and stable economic partnership with China, without restrictions or impossible conditions.

China’s ruling party is consistent in its policies, unlike in the US, where policies change with every new administration. For example, former President Donald Trump included Yemen’s Houthis on the US list of foreign terrorist groups, but his successor Joe Biden removed them from the list, and Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal but Biden is trying to revive it.

The Arab world is at the forefront of Chinese foreign policy priorities. The Arab-China Summit for Cooperation and Development is considered the first of its kind in the history of relations between the parties, and may indicate the establishment of a new economic order.

It will apparently depend on investment cooperation, the transfer of advanced technology, Arab economic integration with China, the trading of Gulf oil and gas on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the activation of the Belt and Road Initiative, and free trade agreements with the Gulf countries that ensure the entry of Chinese goods without customs and vice versa.

It will also study the cancelation of part of the debts of Arab countries, and raise the share of Saudi oil exports — the Kingdom is the largest oil exporter to China — from 25 to 35 percent or more. This will likely be at the expense of less important countries such as Iran, with a Chinese desire to include the Gulf countries and Egypt in the BRICS group of leading emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Saudi Arabia has begun to establish up to 64 industrial cities that will make everything from a needle to a missile, in partnership with countries such as India, South Korea, Taiwan, Belgium, Germany and South Africa. The Vision 2030 plan aims to make Saudi Arabia one of the largest producers and manufacturers in the world.

The most important thing is that Saudi Arabia negotiated with China to begin manufacturing in the Kingdom, and granted incentives to Chinese companies to do so. There are agreements between the two countries in the field of communications, specifically the construction of G5 and G6 towers in Saudi Arabia, and local manufacturing that may include aircraft carriers, drones, ballistic missiles, semiconductors and electric cars.

Riyadh purchased strategic East Wind missiles from China in 1987, with the help of former Saudi Ambassador to Washington Prince Bandar bin Sultan, after the US refused to supply them.

Saudi Arabia has begun to establish up to 64 industrial cities that will make everything from a needle to a missile, in partnership with countries such as India, South Korea, Taiwan, Belgium, Germany and South Africa. The Vision 2030 plan aims to make Saudi Arabia one of the largest producers and manufacturers in the world.

China is the Kingdom’s largest trading partner. According to Reuters figures from 2021, bilateral trade stands at more than $87 billion, and the value of Chinese exports to the Kingdom is estimated at $30 billion. The value of Saudi exports to China is about $57 billion. According to Goldman Sachs forecasts, China will be the world’s biggest economy in 2031 with a value of $38 trillion, with the US in second place with nearly $28 trillion.

The relationship with China will benefit Saudi Arabia and other Arab states. They will not need air defense systems that the US refused to export to the Gulf states but gave for free to Ukraine.

China provided Saud Arabia with a weapon called Silent Hunter, which shoots down drones. Neither the US nor Europe have done this; they have only criticized Iran’s regional interventions and its proxies that target Saudi Arabia, as well as emphasized non-interference in countries’ internal affairs.

• Dr. Bader bin Saud is a weekly columnist for Al-Riyadh and Okaz, a media and knowledge management researcher, and former deputy commander of the Special Forces for Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia.