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CDB's cash injection is to help finance projects agreed upon with Egypt during the third Belt and Road Initiative summit

China injects $956m into Egypt’s central bank

The China Development Bank (CDB) has injected ¥7 billion ($956 million) into Egypt’s central bank to help finance projects agreed upon during the third Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) summit last month.  The funds are part of a loan agreement signed during the summit in Beijing, as well as the nine programmes outlined in 2021’s […]

UAE economy minister Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri and China's commerce minister Wang Wentao meet at a conference in Guangzhou, China 

UAE non-oil trade with BRI nations hits $305bn

Non-oil trade between the UAE and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries reached $305 billion in the first half of 2023, growing more than 13 percent year on year, according to economy minister Abdulla bin Touq Al-Marri. Trading with BRI nations accounted for 90 percent of the UAE’s non-oil trade during the period, the UAE […]

President Xi Jinping poses with Arab leaders during his trip to the Gulf last December

GCC chief predicts China free trade deal ‘soon’

China and the GCC will sign a free trade agreement “soon”, according to a Gulf official, nearly 20 years after negotiations began. Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, the GCC’s secretary general, has predicted the deal will be “wrapped up during the next short period”, adding that its fruits “will be reaped as soon as possible”. His comments […]

An artists's impression of part of KEC's planned Islamic World District

Chinese builder picked for $1bn Medina projects

Agreements worth nearly $1 billion have been signed with a Chinese construction major to build two mixed-use projects in Saudi Arabia’s Knowledge Economic City (KEC) in Medina. A filing by KEC to the Saudi Stock Exchange on Wednesday revealed that a $400 million deal has been agreed with China Gezhouba International Engineering Group Company (CGGC) […]

One of the factories in the Sokhna industrial zone, where China Energy will build a green hydrogen project

Suez Canal Economic Zone signs $15bn energy deals  

Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone signed a $6.75 billion deal with China Energy Engineering Corporation on Tuesday, for a green ammonia and green hydrogen project to be built in its Sokhna industrial zone.  On the same day, another Chinese company, Hong Kong’s United Energy Group, signed a memorandum of understanding for a potassium chloride production […]

Mohamed Maait, Egypt's finance minister, at an IMF/World Bank meeting in Marrakech on October 13. He said Cairo's panda bonds had a low interest rate of 3.5%

Egypt issues $500m of green panda bonds in China

Egypt issued $500 million of sustainable panda bonds on the Chinese financial market on Tuesday, becoming the first country from the Middle East and North Africa to do so.  The panda bonds – securities denominated in yuan but issued by non-Chinese borrowers – will be used to finance projects that support sustainable development goals, in […]

Zhang Xiaodong, executive VP at Bank of China, rings the opening bell at Nasdaq Dubai to mark the green bonds' release

Belt and Road green bonds listed in Dubai by Chinese bank

Bank of China has issued the first green bonds focused on Belt and Road Initiative projects in the Middle East, listing them on Nasdaq Dubai. The $770 million listing by one of China’s largest state-owned banks raises the total value of debt listed on Nasdaq Dubai to nearly $120 billion.  The green notes have simultaneously […]

Text, City, Logo

IMF closes Morocco meetings without consensus  

International Monetary Fund (IMF) countries on Saturday failed to agree on a US-backed plan to boost IMF funding without giving more shares to China and other big emerging markets, but pledged a “meaningful increase” in lending resources by year-end. As IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Morocco closed, a statement from IMF’s steering committee […]

Officials and executives from Shandong Energy Group and Aramco Asia at the signing ceremony

Aramco in talks to buy 10% of Shandong Yulong refinery

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, is discussing buying a 10 percent stake in China’s Shandong Yulong Petrochemical Company. Shandong Yulong is currently in the process of completing the construction of a refining and petrochemicals complex in eastern China’s Shandong province. The facility will process 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil and produce […]

Careem driver

Clarification: Careem ‘not exploring’ partnerships with China’s Trip.com

Careem has clarified that it is not in official discussions with China’s largest online travel company Trip.com Group to offer its services on its app. Established in Dubai in 2012 offering a ride-hailing service, Careem has grown to what it calls a “Super App”, offering a range of services from local and global companies including […]

Nuclear power plant in Belgium Saudi nuclear deal Video length: 07:09

Riyadh adds safety valve to US and China nuclear quest

Saudi Arabia is to allow inspections of future nuclear facilities, in an effort to persuade Washington to allow transfer of US reactor technology. The decision by Riyadh will appease Washington, but the Saudis are still courting China as a possible alternative option if US fears of nuclear proliferation prevent a deal.  The Saudi government presented […]

Workers at a Mitsubishi factory in Japan install an EV battery. Morocco has 70% of the world's phosphate, a vital material for batteries

Chinese cash to supercharge Morocco’s EV battery sector

Morocco’s plan to become a centre for electric vehicle manufacturing has received a boost from two Chinese companies, as the kingdom benefits from the cooling relations between Beijing and Washington.   CNGR Advanced Material, a Chinese manufacturer of battery components, announced last month that it would join forces with Al Mada, a conglomerate owned by the […]

Workers inspect equipment at a hydropower plant in Zhangye, northern China. About 41% of renewables jobs are in China

Renewables workforce nearly doubles in a decade

Employment in the renewable energy sector has almost doubled over the past decade, the International Renewable Energy Agency and International Labour Organization have found. There were 13.7 million jobs in the global industry in 2022, up from 7.3 million in 2012, the agencies said in the report Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual Review. Employment growth […]

The new deal with Hainan Airlines is part of Saudi Arabia's plan to attract 4m visitors from China by 2030

China and Saudi Arabia agree to more direct flights

The Saudi Air Connectivity Program (ACP) has signed an agreement with Hainan Airlines to launch two new air routes serving the kingdom and China as the two countries continue to forge closer ties. Flights from Riyadh and Jeddah to Beijing were opened by Saudia in August, providing 165 million people in northern China with direct […]

Corn harvest season in Zhangye, Gansu Province. China has trained 10,000 agricultural officials and staff from 22 Arab League member countries

China and Arab states sign $471m worth of agri deals

A total of 34 deals worth AED1.73 billion ($471 million) were signed at the China-Arab States Expo, promoting cooperation and development in the agricultural sector. Agriculture has become an important part of China-Arab cooperation, and trade in agricultural products has recorded steady growth, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported, citing the China Economic Net […]

People visit a show flat at a property development in Yunnan Province. The combined floor area of unsold homes in China stands at 648m sq meters

China’s unsold homes raise concerns over debt defaults  

Even China’s population of 1.4 billion would not be enough to fill all the empty apartments littered across the country, a former official said on Saturday, in a rare public critique of the country’s crisis-hit property market. China’s property sector, once the pillar of the economy, has slumped since 2021 when real estate giant China […]

EV maker Nio raised $500 million in a six-year put-four convertible bond and the same amount in a seven-year put-five bond

Chinese EV maker Nio raises $1bn in convertible bond deal

Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio Inc said on Wednesday it had raised $1 billion in a two-tranche convertible bond from which it intends to use the proceeds to pay down debt and strengthen its balance sheet. The company raised $500 million in a six-year put-four convertible bond and the same amount in a seven-year put-five […]

The relationship between Hainan and the UAE resulted in bilateral non-oil trade more than doubling in 2022 to $900m

UAE boosts trade ties with China’s Hainan province

The UAE and China’s Hainan province have signed four major private sector agreements to boost bilateral trade and investment ties. The agreements include a memorandum of understanding between Ajlan & Bros Holding, Hainan Airlines Holding and Yangpu Economic Development Zone Management Committee and a cooperation framework agreement between Dubai Integrated Economic Zones and Hainan Airport […]

Acwa Power’s partnership with Chinese companies is essential to meet Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goals, said chairman Mohammad Abunayyan

Acwa Power forms clean energy alliances in China

Saudi renewable energy company Acwa Power has signed agreements with two Chinese companies to enhance their global clean energy collaboration. The agreements were signed with state-owned China Southern Power Grid International Company and MingYang Smart Energy Group Limited during this week’s China (Guangdong)-Saudi Arabia Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference. Acwa Power chairman Mohammad Abunayyan said: “Signing the two MoUs […]

China’s Alibaba to open ‘free’ AI model

Alibaba said on Wednesday it would open its artificial intelligence (AI) model Tongyi Qianwen to the public, in a sign it has gained Chinese regulatory approval to mass-market the model. Authorities in China have recently accelerated efforts to support companies developing AI as the technology increasingly becomes a focus of competition with the United States. […]

Hong Kong chief executive John Lee (centre) visited Dubai’s Museum of the Future in February

Hong Kong thrives as GCC-China ‘super-connector’

As Hong Kong prepares to host the Belt and Road Summit this week, its focus is increasingly turning to the Gulf for trade and investment opportunities.  The Chinese special administrative region has been strengthening its links with the Middle East since 2013, when the Belt and Road Initiative was launched. It now wants to attract […]