- Saudi Arabia seeks greater cooperation with China on trade investment and energy flows.
- “We have recognized the reality of today that China is taking the lead, has taken the lead and will continue to take that lead. We don’t have to compete with China, we have to work with China,” he told CNBC’s Dan Murphy during Sunday’s Arab-China Economic Conference.
Saudi Arabia is seeking greater cooperation with China on trade investment and energy flows rather than competing with the superpower, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said.
“We have recognized the reality of today that China is taking the lead, has taken the lead and will continue to take that lead. We don’t have to compete with China, we have to work with China,” he told CNBC’s Dan Murphy during Sunday’s Arab-China Economic Conference.
He added that there is value in working with China because the country has taken the lead in finding the “right manufacturers”, particularly in the renewable energy space. “We will never get involved in this zero-sum game again.”
On the reasons why the OPEC boss has his eye on China, Abdulaziz said he believes China’s oil demand is still growing and that it is a pie Saudi Arabia is keen to grab.
China is the world’s largest crude oil importer and the Saudis emerged as China’s top commodity supplier in April, despite Russia’s cheap, sanctioned oil.
In March, state-owned Saudi Aramco announced two major refining contracts, supplying 690,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Rongsheng Petrochemical and Zhejiang Petrochemical. The agreements followed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the kingdom last December.
“It doesn’t mean we won’t work with others,” the minister also said on Sunday, citing Europe, South Korea, Japan, the United States and Latin America as the parties with which the country has trade ties.
The Riyadh conference came amid growing economic and diplomatic ties between China and Saudi Arabia as both countries have increasingly strained relations with the West.
Saudi Arabia’s cabinet in March approved a decision to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a Chinese-led security bloc that lists Russia, India, Pakistan and four other Central Asian states as full members.
When asked if skeptics criticized the growing Saudi-China ties, Abdulaziz replied, “I completely ignore it.”
He likened business transactions to a pot that doesn’t need to be split between countries, saying Saudi Arabia “will go where opportunities arise.” [its] way.” “There’s nothing political about it. There is nothing strategic about that.”
“We are Saudi Arabia, we don’t have to engage in what I call a zero-sum game. We believe there are so many global opportunities.”