Saudi Draws Closer To China, And Xi's Visit Shows It

Saudi Arabia rolled out the red carpet for China’s Xi Jinping, showing the US that it is no longer in thrall to Washington, and would deal with any world power to advance the kingdom’s interest, analyst Tamara Qiblawi wrote for CNN.

Photo Insert: Xi’s red-carpet welcome is a far cry from President Joe Biden’s trip to Riyadh this summer.

Xi’s red-carpet welcome is a far cry from President Joe Biden’s trip to Riyadh this summer.

An unsmiling Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman greeted the President with a fist bump then publicly embarrassed him during a televised roundtable meeting, announcing a limited increase in oil production that fell far short of US demands.

While bin Salman uttered the decision, Saudi state TV turned to a visibly exasperated Biden, who seemed to have been caught off-guard by the statement. Months later, Saudi Arabia doubled down by cutting oil production.

By striking a sharp contrast with Biden’s visit, the pageantry of Xi’s trip to Saudi Arabia carries an implicit message to the US. Despite Washington’s repeated pleas to its Gulf Arab allies to spurn China’s commercial carrot, the region’s relationship with Beijing continues to evolve, advancing not only in trade but also in security.

“The first message is that this is a new Saudi Arabia. This is a new Gulf. This is a new reality,” United Arab Emirates analyst and Visiting Senior Fellow at Harvard University Abdulkhaleq Abdulla told CNN. “The new reality is that China is rising and Asia is rising and whether the US likes it or not, we have to deal with China.”

The summit marks a “milestone” in Chinese-Arab relations, as one high-level Arab diplomat put it to CNN earlier this week. It also represents a major diplomatic triumph for Mohammed bin Salman.

For years he was frozen out by the West following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. Now, MBS, as he is known by many, is set to convene meetings with Xi and at least 14 other Arab leaders on short notice.

For China, meanwhile, it is a chance to expand its geopolitical footprint in America’s former backyard – and Beijing will also need more Saudi oil as it finally starts to loosen COVID rules.

Two decades ago, China’s leaders were personae non grata in a decidedly anti-communist Saudi Arabia. Back then, the US was the biggest consumer of the kingdom’s oil.

Now, the US consumes only a fraction of that Saudi oil, and China is Saudi Arabia’s biggest client and trading partner. Exports to China exceeded $50 billion last year – more than 18% of the kingdom’s total exports.

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