China-Middle East ties: Beijing’s overtures in Arab world ‘to deepen oil-and-gas cooperation’
- Chinese commerce officials meet with counterparts from all six Gulf Cooperation Council member states, highlight progress in infrastructure and new-energy deals
- GCC members also agree to better align their development strategies with China’s Belt and Road Initiative
China is looking to cultivate new free-trade pacts and deepen energy cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), commerce authorities said after a meeting involving the economic and trade ministers from China and all six GCC member states.
New trade deals are of great importance to China, which is reliant on the Middle East for oil imports – about half come from the region – and Beijing has made diplomatic overtures with Arab states in the Middle East over the past year amid tense US relations.
“China will actively advance and support bilateral sovereign wealth funds to engage in collaborative exchanges through various means,” Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said at the meeting on Sunday in the southern city of Guangzhou, according to the ministry.
“We will deepen the oil-and-gas cooperation model, strengthen and expand connectivity cooperation, and explore opportunities for infrastructure cooperation in areas such as ports, aviation, telecommunications, pipelines and more.”
China will also join hands with Gulf countries to advance their clean-energy transition by promoting solar, wind, nuclear, hydrogen and biomass options, while also making joint advancements in the new-energy vehicle industries, including batteries and smart charging stations, he added.
The economic union of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has increasingly become a crucial partner in China’s global trade strategy. But its cosying up to the Middle East has raised concerns in Washington and Brussels.