President of the Lebanese Chinese Business Association Ali Mahmoud El Abdallah, Arabs and China: From Cooperation to strategic Partnership
President of the Lebanese Chinese Business Association
Ali Mahmoud El Abdallah, Arabs and China:
From Cooperation to strategic Partnership
The Arab–Chinese Summit held in Riyadh marked one of the most significant political and economic milestones in the modern history of the Arab world. Without a doubt, it opened a new chapter in the history of international relations. The summit will have profound strategic implications for Saudi Arabia’s position on the global power map and for Arab–Chinese relations in general. Most importantly, it came at the perfect historical moment and in the right place, amid growing global discussions on the emergence of a multi-polar world order. Its timing and location were certainly not coincidental but the result of extensive Saudi and Chinese diplomatic efforts over many years, and the steady evolution of Arab–Chinese relations across political and economic fields.
The summit was also held during a highly complex and critical historical period, as the world struggles to catch its breath amid unprecedented developments from the COVID-19 pandemic to the ensuing economic downturn, which now borders on full-scale recession, coupled with the waning influence of the European Union preoccupied with the fragmentation caused by the Ukraine war, and the dramatic rise of the BRICS nations.
Today, it is clear that the Arab world faces a rare and historic opportunity to strengthen its ties with China and move forward with joint development projects with a nation that successfully transformed itself from poverty into the world’s second-largest economy. The Arab countries have a strong foundation upon which to build their partnership with China. Both sides have achieved continuous growth in economic cooperation over the past decades a trend expected to continue in the years ahead.
Trade exchanges between the two sides rose from about 37 billion USD in 2004 to over 300 billion USD in 2021. According to recent research reports, Chinese investments in Arab countries totaled approximately 213.9 billion USD between 2005 and 2021, making China the largest foreign investor in the Arab world.
China has also established comprehensive strategic partnerships with 12 Arab countries, and signed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation documents with 20 Arab states. Seventeen Arab countries have voiced support for the Global Development Initiative, while fifteen have joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Additionally, 17 mechanisms of cooperation have been established under the China–Arab Cooperation Forum.
Through the Belt and Road Initiative, China is investing hundreds of billions of dollars to build ports, highways, and railways to facilitate global trade with Arab nations at the heart of this effort.
Chinese investments have been distributed among several Arab countries. According to the Union of Arab Banks, Saudi Arabia accounts for 21% of total Chinese investments in the Arab world, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 17%, Iraq with 14%, and both Egypt and Algeria with 12% each. Saudi Arabia now competes with Russia as China’s top oil supplier, while Qatar has become one of China’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers through recently signed long-term agreements.
In 2021, China’s crude oil imports from Arab countries reached 264 million tons, representing 51.47% of its total oil imports. It is particularly noteworthy that President Xi Jinping announced that China would begin purchasing oil and gas in yuan, a move that supports Beijing’s goal of internationalizing its currency and weakening the U.S. dollar’s dominance in global trade.
Equally remarkable is how China has diversified and deepened its economic relations with Arab nations in general and Gulf countries in particular. Once known mainly for light industry exports, China has become a leading exporter of advanced electronics, mechanical equipment, vehicles, phones, and data-processing machines industries once dominated by Europe, the United States, and other advanced economies.
According to Trade Map, China’s exports to the Gulf countries in 2021 were valued at 97 billion USD, with electronics accounting for 35 billion USD, followed by mechanical machinery worth 17 billion USD, and vehicles worth 4 billion USD.
Perhaps most importantly, China has consistently stood by Arab causes, foremost among them the Palestinian cause, which President Xi Jinping highlighted in his speech at the summit:
“The Palestinian issue concerns peace and stability in the Middle East and tests the moral conscience of humanity. The historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people cannot continue indefinitely, and their legitimate national rights are non-negotiable. China looks forward to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that cannot be denied, and urges the international community to reaffirm its commitment to the two-state solution.”
In light of the increasingly turbulent international environment particularly after the Ukraine war and the tensions over Taiwan, which China considers an integral part of its territory there are many global challenges that both Arab nations and China share. Both sides are committed to supporting peace and global stability, and they possess common interests that drive their strategic partnership.
Based on these facts and realities, a new era in history began with the Riyadh Summit and indeed, history is written by those strong enough to foresee the future and courageous enough to shape it.