China calls for calm in aftermath of drone strikes on Saudi oil facilities
- King Salman briefs Chinese president on attacks and says ties between two countries are ‘solid and good’
- Beijing is caught between its biggest source of imported oil and a country with huge market potential, observers say
China has called for calm in the Persian Gulf in the aftermath of drone attacks on its biggest oil supplier, reflecting its need to keep crude flowing from Saudi Arabia without putting ally Iran offside, according to analysts.
The call came during a phone conversation on Friday night between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, nearly a week after drone strikes on Saudi oil facilities halved the kingdom’s production and cut global output – around 100 million barrels a day – by 5 per cent.
Xi condemned the attacks, saying it had shocked the international energy markets and that he hoped the incident would receive a full and fair investigation, state news agency Xinhua reported.
King Salman briefed Xi on the attacks, and said ties between the two countries were “solid and good”, the report said.