Saudi Arabia and China sign $25bn of deals

Reuters/Ahmed Yosri

• Conference held in Beijing
• 60-plus deals and MoUs
• Khalid Al Falih led delegation

Deals worth more than $25 billion have been signed at the Saudi-China Investment Conference in Beijing.

More than 60 agreements and memoranda of understanding were completed at Tuesday’s meeting, the Saudi Ministry of Investment said in a statement.

The deals covered sectors including energy, agriculture, tourism, mining, financial services, logistics, infrastructure, technology and healthcare.

• Saudi leaders gather in Beijing to boost $106bn trade
• GCC chief predicts China free trade deal ‘soon’
• PIF ups investment in Alibaba-backed tech venture

About 1,000 government and business leaders attended the conference, with the Saudi delegation led by investment minister Khalid Al Falih.

Among the agreements signed, Oriental Energy Company and Ajlan & Bros will explore areas of collaboration in manufacturing, while China’s CRRC Group is seeking renewable energy opportunities in the kingdom. 

Nine regional headquarters licences were handed to Chinese businesses at the conference – to Huawei, Dahua, China Railway Construction Corporation, China Comservice, China Harbour Engineering Company, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, BGI, Nuctech and iMile. 

The Saudi HQ programme invites global companies to move their regional headquarters to the kingdom, where they can benefit from incentives including a 30-year tax holiday.

The deadline for applications is next month.

China is Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner. Bilateral trade exceeded $106 billion in 2022, an increase of around 30 percent from 2021.

Think tank Asia House says Saudi-China trade has nearly doubled since 2010. It described President Xi Jinping’s visit to Riyadh in December 2022 as a “watershed” in the countries’ relationship.