Aramco looks at China’s potential growth sectors

Saudi Aramco is exploring new opportunities in China’s energy, chemicals and technology sectors, president and CEO Amin Nasser has said.

China occupies a key position in Aramco’s global strategy, he told the China Development Forum in Beijing on Monday.

The Saudi-listed company is supporting China’s energy and chemical feedstock security by investing in multiple downstream projects, Nasser said.

Aramco’s existing investments are spread across the areas of Fujian, Liaoning, Zhejiang and Tianjin. No further details were given.

Nasser said he expects oil demand in China to shift over time from light transport towards petrochemicals due to a growing need for plastics, synthetic fibres and other high-end materials.

A reliable supply of these materials will be essential to China’s high-quality critical growth industries, including wind and solar energy, automotive, aerospace and construction, he said.

In November 2024 Aramco began construction on a new integrated refining and petrochemical complex in Fujian Province in China as part of its liquids-to-chemicals strategy.

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The company has also been exploring opening manufacturing facilities for industrial components and advanced materials in collaboration with a state-run China National Building Material Group.

Last July Aramco and the Public Investment Fund, the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, doubled their investment in a steel-plate joint venture with a Chinese company to $500 million.

China has been the biggest foreign investor in Saudi Arabia, with $16.8 billion, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s pivot to the East since the “watershed” visit of President Xi Jinping to Riyadh in December 2022.

Aramco has a number of other large investments and partnerships worldwide. On Monday, it was reported that Aramco agreed to acquire Primax, a major fuel distributor in Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, for $3.5 billion.