RIYADH: Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani on Friday held a session of negotiations with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the China-Arab Summit for Development and Cooperation.
During the meeting, both leaders discussed bilateral relations between Iraq and China and ways to strengthen the relationship to a higher level of strategic cooperation and long-term partnership in various fields.
President Xi’s visit: Gulf Nations Bolstering Collaboration with China
Arab Gulf nations, strategic partners of the United States, are strengthening relations with China that involve diversifying their economies from fossil fuel to green energy.
The China-Gulf summit is focused on key areas of economic cooperation between China and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
President Xi Jinping’s visit to strengthen energy cooperation
By 2020, China had become a key trading partner with the Gulf Cooperation Council member states, especially collaborations in the field of energy.
China imports hydrocarbons from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. China alone imported 17 percent of the oil in 2021 from Gulf countries.
Qatar provides China with liquefied natural gas (LNG) — a trade that the global energy crisis has increased due to the Ukraine war.
In November, Qatar signed a $60 billion natural gas deal with China for 27 years. Qatar termed the deal as the longest such agreement so far.
President Xi Jinping to hold free trade talks
In July 2004, China and the Gulf Cooperation Council announced negotiations to strike a free-trade deal.
Around two decades later, following nine rounds of negotiations, the parties have yet to reach a final agreement, despite announcing in January to further accelerate the talks process.
Today’s China-Gulf summit in Xi Jinping’s attendance is widely considered an opportunity to launch negotiations.
China’s trade ties are particularly strong with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the biggest Middle East market for Chinese goods, and is a big export market for Chinese products and goods, particularly to other Arab countries.
Investment
According to the American Enterprise Institute’s data, from 2005 to 2022, Chinese companies made investments worth over $107 billion in the Gulf states.
Chinese investment’s largest share went to the Arab world’s biggest economy, Saudi Arabia.
According to the think tank, Chinese investments in Saudi Arabia were valued at nearly $49.6 billion over the past 17 years.
