Saudi Arabia urges Chinese firms to explore its ‘phenomenal demand’, cooperate in green transition

Saudi Arabia’s investment minister called for further facilitation on green transition collaborations with Chinese companies in Beijing on Tuesday, with bilateral trade and business exchanges in full swing amid their fraying relations with the West.

The Gulf state is striving to catch up on the global wave of clean energy transition, which provides China, a leader in the global new energy sector, an opportunity to grow investment and involvement in the region’s renewables development and beyond, Khalid al-Falih told the China-Saudi Investment Conference.

“We invite Chinese companies to participate in the green transition supply chain … in addition to investments, whether it is [foreign direct investment] or in our capital, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, there is significant project workload that requires participation from China’s project execution, project management companies,” said Falih.

“To the Chinese contractors, the Chinese material suppliers, please consider this phenomenal demand for your companies to engage in projects, including housing, city development, smart cities and so forth.”

China companies, such as JinkoSolar, the largest module manufacturer in the world, already occupy significant market share in Saudi Arabia.