China, Saudi Arabia sign deals worth $65 bln

A slew of deals worth about 65 billion US dollars have been signed between China and Saudi Arabia during Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's visit in Beijing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) welcomes visiting Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Beijing, capital of China, March 16, 2017. [Screenshot: China Plus]

The memorandums of understanding and letters of intent signed by the two countries cover a wide range of areas such as space and energy, and involve 35 cooperative projects.

Under the agreements signed on Thursday, Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) and China's Sinopec, a state-owned petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group, will develop petrochemical projects in the two countries.

China-Saudi Arabia trade

[By China Plus]

Saudi Arabia was China's biggest supplier of crude oil for 16 successive years, from 2000 to 2015. And for years, Saudi Arabia has been China's largest trading partner in the West Asian and African region, Ministry of Foreign Affairs statistics show.

Saudi Arabia's top export market in 2016 was China, followed by Japan, while the country's top three import source are: the U.S., China, United Arab Emirates, according to China's Ministry of Commerce quoting Saudi Arabia's Central Department of Statistics.

[By China Plus]

China's top imports from Saudi Arabia include crude oil and petrochemicals, and major exports include mechanical and electrical products, steel and clothing.

Saudi Arabia is a major market for overseas construction projects for China, and there were over 160 Chinese companies in Saudi Arabia by 2016, Xinhua reports.

Saudi Arabia in a depressed global oil market

[By China Plus]

Saudi Arabia lost its oil market share to a number of rival countries in the past three years to 2016, and last year it lost its share to Russia, its biggest rival in China's oil market, according to media reports.

The country has since been trying to increase oil sales to China, Reuters reports.