Saudi lays on lavish welcome as China's Xi heralds 'new era' in relations | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
June 10, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2025
Saudi lays on lavish welcome as China's Xi heralds 'new era' in relations

Middle East

Reuters
08 December, 2022, 05:20 pm
Last modified: 08 December, 2022, 05:25 pm

Related News

  • China’s Xi meets Myanmar junta chief, pledges to help rebuild post-earthquake
  • Putin greets China's Xi at Kremlin
  • China's Xi arrives in Moscow in show of support for Putin after Ukrainian drones target capital
  • China's Xi to visit Russia: Kremlin
  • China, Vietnam to assess viability of new railways: document

Saudi lays on lavish welcome as China's Xi heralds 'new era' in relations

Reuters
08 December, 2022, 05:20 pm
Last modified: 08 December, 2022, 05:25 pm
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 8 December 2022. in this screen grab taken from EKHBARIYAH TV via REUTERS
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 8 December 2022. in this screen grab taken from EKHBARIYAH TV via REUTERS

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received President Xi Jinping on Thursday as the Chinese leader heralded "a new era" in Arab relations, with a lavish welcome signalling Riyadh's interest in deepening ties with Beijing despite US wariness.

Members of the Saudi Royal Guard riding Arabian horses and carrying Chinese and Saudi flags escorted Xi's car as it entered the royal palace in Riyadh, where Prince Mohammed, de facto ruler of the oil giant, greeted him with a warm smile.

It stood in stark contrast to the low-key welcome extended in July to US President Joe Biden, with whom ties have been strained by Saudi energy policy and the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi that had overshadowed the awkward visit.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The United States, warily watching China's growing sway and with its ties to Riyadh at a nadir, said on Wednesday the visit was an example of Chinese attempts to exert influence around the world and would not change US policy towards the Middle East.

Saudi-China energy, trade and investment ties

Prince Mohammed, with whom Biden bumped fists instead of shaking hands in July, has made a comeback on the world stage following the Khashoggi killing, which cast a pall over Saudi-US ties, and has been defiant in the face of US ire over oil supplies and pressure from Washington to help isolate Russia.

Setting the tone for Xi's visit, his plane was escorted by Saudi air force jets as it entered Saudi airspace and a 21-gun salute was fired as senior Saudi royals met him at the airport on Wednesday, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

In an op-ed published in Saudi media, Xi said he was on a "pioneering trip" to "open a new era of China's relations with the Arab world, the Arab countries of the Gulf, and Saudi Arabia".

China and Arab countries would "continue to hold high the banner of non-interference in internal affairs, firmly support each other in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity", he wrote.

Xi, due to meet with other Gulf oil producers and attend a wider gathering of Arab leaders on Friday, said these states were a "treasure trove of energy for the world economy ... and are fertile ground for the development of high-tech industries".

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states like the United Arab Emirates have said that they would not choose sides between global powers and were diversifying partners to serve national economic and security interests.

"TRUSTED PARTNER"

China, the world's biggest energy consumer, is a major trade partner of Gulf states and bilateral ties have expanded as the region pushes economic diversification, raising US hackles about Chinese involvement in sensitive Gulf infrastructure.

The Saudi energy minister on Wednesday said Riyadh would remain a "trusted and reliable" energy partner for Beijing and that the two would boost cooperation in energy supply chains by establishing a regional centre in the kingdom for Chinese factories.

Saudi prince seeks Mideast leadership, independence with Xi's visit

Chinese and Saudi firms also signed 34 deals for investment in green energy, information technology, cloud services, transport, construction and other sectors, state news agency SPA reported. It gave no figures, but had earlier said the two countries would seal initial agreements worth $30 billion.

Tang Tianbo, Middle East specialist at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) - a Chinese government-affiliated think tank - said the visit would result in further expansion of energy cooperation.

The "Belt and Road" initiative - Xi's signature infrastructure investment project - dovetailed with Saudi plans to diversify its economy under its "Vision 2030", Tianbo wrote in an article on Saudi-Chinese relations.

While Saudi Arabia was an important US ally, she noted, "in recent years, it has upheld its strategic autonomy, resisted the pressure of the United States".

Top News / World+Biz / China

China-Saudi Arabia / Xi Jinping / Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir speaks to reporters at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office on 10 June 2025. Photo: Focus Bangla
    Fakhrul urges interim govt to rethink April election timing
  • A passerby walks near a building on fire at the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
    Russia launches one of war's largest air attacks on Kyiv
  • Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu. Photo: Collected
    Elected govt essential to ensure investors' security: BGMEA president

MOST VIEWED

  • On left, Abdullah Hil Rakib, former senior vice president (SVP) of BGMEA and additional managing director of Team Group; on right, Captain Md Saifuzzaman (Guddu), a Boeing 787 Dreamliner pilot for Biman Bangladesh Airlines. Photos: Collected
    Ex-BGMEA SVP Abdullah Hil Rakib, Biman 787 pilot Saifuzzaman drown in boating accident in Canada
  • A photo showing the former president on his return to Dhaka today (9 June). 
Source: Collected
    Former president Abdul Hamid returns to Bangladesh from Thailand
  • File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar
    Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do
  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus leaves for a four-day visit to the United Kingdom from the Dhaka airport on 9 June 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    CA Yunus leaves for UK; discussion expected on renewable energy investment, laundered money
  • Inside the aid ship stormed by Israeli forces on 9 June 2025. Photo: BBC
    Israeli forces stormed aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg bound for Gaza: Freedom Flotilla Coalition
  • Enhanced surveillance at Ctg airport amid rising global Covid-19 cases
    Enhanced surveillance at Ctg airport amid rising global Covid-19 cases

Related News

  • China’s Xi meets Myanmar junta chief, pledges to help rebuild post-earthquake
  • Putin greets China's Xi at Kremlin
  • China's Xi arrives in Moscow in show of support for Putin after Ukrainian drones target capital
  • China's Xi to visit Russia: Kremlin
  • China, Vietnam to assess viability of new railways: document

Features

File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

1d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

3d | Bangladesh
Illustration: TBS

Unbearable weight of the white coat: The mental health crisis in our medical colleges

5d | Panorama
(From left) Sadia Haque, Sylvana Quader Sinha and Tasfia Tasbin. Sketch: TBS

Meet the women driving Bangladesh’s startup revolution

6d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

BNP is not a revolutionary party: Mirza Fakhrul

BNP is not a revolutionary party: Mirza Fakhrul

29m | TBS Today
Trump sends 2,000 more National Guard and 700 Marines to Los Angeles

Trump sends 2,000 more National Guard and 700 Marines to Los Angeles

1h | TBS World
Prison irregularities will be punished, warns Home Affairs Advisor

Prison irregularities will be punished, warns Home Affairs Advisor

1h | TBS Today
What's the problem with elections in April? What BNP says

What's the problem with elections in April? What BNP says

2h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net