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Julia Hollingsworth

A worsening rift between several Gulf Arab nations along China’s modern Silk Road trade route will make it harder for China to manage its ties in the region, according to analysts.
Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates all cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday, citing Doha’s alleged links to terrorism.
The nations also said they planned to cut air and sea traffic, while Saudi Arabia announced it would shut its land border with Qatar, cutting the gas-rich nation off from the rest of the Arabian peninsula.
Qatar denies that it funds extremist groups.
The nations are involved in Xi Jinping’s ambitious “Belt and Road Initiative”, which stretches across 65 countries and encompasses Asia, Africa and Europe.
The Arab peninsula is the top source of oil for China, the world’s biggest oil importer. Global prices rose in early trading on Monday.




Pang Zhongying, a senior fellow at the Ocean University of China in Qingdao, Shandong province, said the spat among the Middle East nations would make it more complicated to manage ties with the region.
“China has a huge economic interest in the Middle East,” he said. “With the belt and road and other initiatives it is using to expand geopolitical influence in the region, China may need to think about adjusting its “non-interference” diplomatic motto.”
Zhu Bin, an analyst at Southwest Securities, said: “These countries’ cutting of their diplomatic relationships with Qatar marks the beginning of a new round of chaos, even conflicts and war, in the Middle East.”
Chinese drone factory in Saudi Arabia first in Middle East
China’s trade with the Middle East
Saudi Arabia is China’s top trade partner in the region, and China is now Saudi Arabia’s largest oil customer.
In 2015, Saudi Arabian exports to China totalled US$5.61 billion and its imports were worth US$23.97 billion. Last year, total trade topped US$42 billion.
The figures for Qatar in 2015 were exports of US$5.24 billion and US$3.7 billion in imports.
But for most of the countries involved in the new rift, China is an important source of imports rather than a major export partner.
Why Saudi Arabia, China and Islamic State are courting the Maldives
China’s major projects in the Middle East
The region is seen as a critical partner along the new Silk Road, partly due to its strategic position between Asia and Europe. The area is also significant for its energy resources, and Chinese firms are winning contracts in infrastructure projects across the Middle East.
In June 2015, ICBC became the first Chinese bank with a retail presence in Saudi Arabia when it opened a branch in Riyadh. A month earlier, China established a yuan clearing centre in Qatar - the first in the Middle East.
Earlier this year, China and Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding on investment cooperation valued at US$65 billion, including joint efforts in energy and finance. China has also signed a partnership with Saudi Arabia for the manufacture of CH-4 unmanned drones.
Last year, China’s Cosco Shipping Ports invested US$400 million in building a container terminal in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Lesson for China: no relationship with the Middle East can be ‘just business’
 How the Arabian peninsula nations see the belt and road scheme
The region has been receptive to the plan.
Last month, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih praised the initiative at Beijing’s new Silk Road summit, saying “the potential offered by this unique initiative is immense and promising”.
The United Arab Emirates was interested in reaping the benefits from the road, Dubai International Financial Centre’s governor Essa Kazim told The Financial Times last month.
Last year, Qatar became a key partner to promote the initiative, pledging to play an active role.
Saudi king’s visit puts Beijing in Middle East spotlight
 How China mediates conflict in the Middle East
China has traditionally stayed out of political issues in the Middle East, preferring not to pick sides to maintain good relations with all its trade partners.
But that may be changing as its links with the region strengthen. In April 2015, a Chinese frigate helped evacuate 225 foreign nationals from Yemen - the first time China’s military has helped other countries evacuate their people from a danger zone.
Last year, Beijing appointed its first special envoy for the Syrian crisis, seen as a move to get more involved in Middle Eastern diplomacy. In China’s first - and vague - Arab policy paper issued at the start of last year, it reiterated its commitment to peace and stability in the region.


How the Gulf row is blocking China’s new Silk Road

The sun rises over Doha in Qatar. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar, citing its support for terrorism. Photo: EPA

Will Gulf crisis see Qatar stripped of football’s World Cup?

Fans outside the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, after it was refurbished for the 2022 World Cup. Photo: AFP

Nasser Al-Khater (R), a senior figure at the World Cup organising body, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy poses for a photo with Spanish footballer Xavi Hernandez, who currently plays for the Qatari football club Al-Sadd, during a tour of the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha on May 18, 2017, after it was refurbished ahead of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. Up to 1.3 million fans will visit Qatar during the 2022 World Cup, according to Nasser Al-Khater, a senior figure with the body organising Qatar's World Cup, a figure equivalent to half the Gulf country's current population. / AFP PHOTO / KARIM JAAFAR

Migrant workers sit at a restaurant in the Qatari capital Doha on December 6, 2016. Ever since being chosen as the 2022 World Cup host, Qatar's labour laws have been internationally condemned and kafala has been at the heart of that criticism. / AFP PHOTO / STRINGER / Qatar OUT / QATAR OUT

A picture taken on May 18, 2017, shows labourers working at Khalifa International Stadium after its redevelopment ahead of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. Up to 1.3 million fans will visit Qatar during the 2022 World Cup, according to Nasser Al-Khater, a senior figure with the body organising Qatar's World Cup, a figure equivalent to half the Gulf country's current population. / AFP PHOTO / KARIM JAAFAR

Why Saudi-UAE campaign against Qatar and Iran puts China in a bind

Pressuring China to take sides, the boycott move complicates its efforts to tiptoe through the minefield of Middle Eastern rivalries by maintaining good relations with all parties

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Photo: AP

(FILES) This file photo taken on May 05, 2015 shows Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, upon his arrival for a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Riyadh. Gulf states on June 5, 2017 cut diplomatic ties with neighbouring Qatar and kicked it out of a military coalition, less than a month after US President Donald Trump visited the region to cement ties with powerhouse Saudi Arabia. / AFP PHOTO / Fayez Nureldine

epa05979104 A handout photo made available by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) shows King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia attending the opening session of the Gulf Cooperation Council summit (GCC), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 21 May 2017. The GCC is attended by the leaders of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, deputy Prime Minister of Oman, and the US President. EPA/SAUDI PRESS AGENCY HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, left, talks to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince and Deputy Commander in Chief of the Emirates Armed Forces in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. Photo: AP

Gulf split: Qatar isolated after seven countries cut diplomatic ties over accusations of support for extremists

Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, escalating a crisis that started over Qatar’s relationship with Iran and its support for ‘terrorist’ organisations including the Muslim Brotherhood. Photo: Reuters

FILE PHOTO - An aerial view of Doha's diplomatic area March 21, 2013. REUTERS/Fadi Al-Assaad/File Photo TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

(FILES) This file photo taken on May 21, 2017 shows US President Donald Trump (R) shaking hands with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, during a bilateral meeting at a hotel in the Saudi capital Riyadh. FBI investigators are helping Qatar in efforts to trace the source of an alleged 'hack' of state media which sparked diplomatic tensions in the Gulf, a source close to the probe said on June 2, 2017. An FBI team has been in Doha the week prior, after the Qatari government requested US help following an unprecedented security breach by hackers last month, the source told AFP. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN

(COMBO) This combination of file pictures created on June 5, 2017, shows (L to R) Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in New York on September 20, 2016, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on March 2, 2017, Saudi King Salman in Riyadh on January 1, 2013, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, in Riyadh on May 05, 2015 and Bahrain's King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa in Riyadh on May 21, 2017. Gulf states on June 5, 2017 cut diplomatic ties with neighbouring Qatar and kicked it out of a military coalition, less than a month after the US president visited the region to cement ties with powerhouse Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates as well as Egypt all announced they were severing ties with gas-rich Qatar, with Riyadh accusing Doha of harbouring "terrorist and sectarian groups that aim to destabilise the region". / AFP PHOTO

Saudi army artillery fire shells towards Houthi movement positions at the Saudi border with Yemen April 15, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

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Rift between Qatar and its neighbours could disrupt key projects in Beijing’s sprawling trade initiative
