Edward White, Cheng Leng, Ahmed Al Omran, and Alex Irwin-Hunt of the Financial Times report that warming relations between Xi Jinping and the Saudi crown prince complicate the outlook for America. They write:
Chinese exports and investment are pouring into Saudi Arabia as the kingdom’s demand for green tech deepens a relationship once defined by oil sales and challenges business ties with its traditional western partners.
Bilateral trade has for many years been almost totally dominated by Chinese purchases of Saudi oil. But now, Chinese exports to Saudi Arabia are tracking towards a record high, at $40.2bn in the first 10 months of the year, up from $34.9bn for the same period last year, according to Chinese government data.
China has also become the kingdom’s largest source of greenfield foreign direct investment, with investments from 2021 to October this year totalling $21.6bn, about a third of which were in clean technologies such as batteries, solar and wind, according to investments tracked by fDi Markets. This compares with $12.5bn from the US, the next highest. […]
Stronger Saudi-China ties could complicate the outlook for the incoming Trump administration in any dealings with Riyadh, said Lons. “If Trump decides not to deliver what they really want in terms of security guarantees, tech co-operation, they can agitate with the Chinese ‘card’, saying ‘we have other options’.”
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