CNN —
Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to arrive in Saudi Arabia for a state visit later this week amid high tensions between the United States and the two countries, the reported Official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
Xi’s trip to Riyadh begins on Wednesday and will include a “Saudi-China summit,” a Sino-Arab summit and a China-GCC summit, according to SPA, which said “prospects for economic and development cooperation will be discussed.” .
At least 14 Arab heads of state are expected at the Sino-Arab summit, according to an Arab diplomatic source, who described the trip to CNN as a “milestone” in Arab-China relations.
Following the announcement, SPA released a “historical report” on Saudi-China relations, noting that the close ties between the two states span eight long decades.
Rumors have been circulating for months that the Chinese president is visiting the United States’ biggest ally in the Middle East. Beijing has not yet officially announced the trip; When asked about it at a regular Foreign Ministry briefing on Tuesday, spokeswoman Mao Ning said she had no information to provide.
Last week, the Saudi government sent out registration forms for reporters to cover the summit without confirming the exact dates. The Saudi government declined to respond to CNN’s request for information about Xi’s visit and the planned summits.
Reports of the long-awaited visit come amid a range of disagreements the US harbors with both Beijing and Riyadh, which, to Washington’s dismay, have only cemented ties in recent years.
The US and Saudi Arabia are still locked in a heated dispute over oil production, which erupted in heated rhetoric and trade allegations in October when the Saudi Arabian-led oil cartel OPEC+ cut production by two million barrels a day to slash prices to “stabilize”. . The decision was made despite fierce US campaigns against it.
Saudi Arabia, a strong US ally for eight long decades, is bitter about what it says is a dwindling US security presence in the region, especially in the face of growing threats from Iran and its Yemeni armed proxies.
China, an economic mammoth in the East, has fallen out with the US over Taiwan, which US President Joe Biden has repeatedly vowed to protect should China attack. The thorny issue has greatly exacerbated a precarious relationship between Washington and Beijing, already vying for influence in the unstable Middle East.
While American allies in the Arabian Gulf are accusing Washington of falling behind on its security guarantees in the region, China has cemented ties with the Gulf monarchies and US enemies Iran and Russia.
China and Saudi Arabia also took different positions towards the West in the Ukraine war. Both have refrained from advocating sanctions against Russia, and Riyadh has repeatedly claimed that Moscow is a key power generation partner to be consulted on OPEC+ decisions. After last month’s massive oil cut, some US officials have accused Saudi Arabia of siding with Russia and supporting President Vladimir Putin in his war against Ukraine.
Saudi officials have either denied weaponizing oil or sided with Russia.
Biden said in October that the US needs to “reconsider” its relationship with Saudi Arabia, which the president appeared to have attempted to repair during a visit to Riyadh in July. After vowing to turn the kingdom into a “pariah” and condemning crown prince and de-factor ruler Mohammed bin Salman for the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Biden flew to Riyadh amid the global oil shortage and greeted bin Salman with a punch that made global headlines.
However, the ultimately frosty visit did not bring any increase in oil production and only increased tensions.