Oil-rich Saudi Arabia and energy-starved China signed defense, security and trade agreements on the first day of Chinese President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) visit, a trip both sides expect will enhance burgeoning relations.
Hu also visited the headquarters of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), the Middle East's largest non-oil industrial company, where he discussed a US$5.3 billion petrochemical project in China in which the Saudis are interested in investing.
Earlier on Saturday, the Chinese leader and King Abdullah oversaw the signing of security, defense, health and trade agreements, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. It did not give details on the deals.
PHOTO: AP
Hu, who arrived on Saturday from the US, told reporters at the airport he expected his trip "will further strengthen the friendship between our two countries and our two peoples as well as expand strategic and friendly cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia."
"China is satisfied with the fruitful achievements in political, economic and cultural cooperation between our two countries," he added.
Hu's trip to Saudi Arabia came three months after Abdullah's visit to China on his first overseas tour as king. It was the first by a Saudi monarch since Saudi Arabia and China established diplomatic relations in 1990.
Hu's trip comes as Saudi Arabia opens up to Asia's growing economic powers in a bid to find stable markets for its oil, step up its international diplomacy and show the West, particularly the US, that if relations worsen, the kingdom has other alternatives, analysts say.
Saudis say the pressure the US Congress recently exerted to drive away a Dubai-based company poised to operate cargo terminals at several US seaports sent a message to Arab and Muslim investors that they are not welcome in the US.
"There's a feeling among Saudis that the US Congress is deriding us, abusing us and insulting us," said Khaled al-Maeena, editor of the English-language Arab News daily.
"We need to maintain links to America, but we are not a gas station. America has to realize we want friends, not masters," Al-Maeena said.
China has been aggressively seeking to strengthen relationships with major oil suppliers as it grows more reliant on imports. Saudi Arabia accounts for about 17 percent of China's imported oil.
Total trade between the two countries -- much of it Saudi oil bought by China -- grew by 59 percent in the first 11 months of last year to US$14 billion.
At SABIC, vice chairman Mohamed al-Mady said his company would "reinforce our presence in China by establishing mega industrial projects."
"The Chinese market is a key strategic global petrochemical market from SABIC's point of view," he added.
SABIC's annual US$2 billion in exports to China include fertilizers, synthetic fabrics, iron, steel and plastic products.
Saudi newspapers, which are government guided, carried advertisements bought by Saudi companies welcoming the Chinese leader. Several said the trip would further strengthen relations between Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, and China, the world's No. 2 oil consumer.
"For China, the kingdom is a strategic trade partner that can respond to China's need for sources of fuel that no other source can provide in terms of quantity and price," wrote Talal Bannan in the Okaz daily. "On the other hand, China, with its technology, can cater to the needs of the Saudi market by providing it with quality products at competitive prices."
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