China
Trade and economic relationship between Saudi Arabia and China
Saudi Arabia is China's largest crude oil supplier, and biggest trading partner in the greater Middle East. More than half of Chinese oil imports originate in the Persian Gulf with 15 % coming from Saudi Arabia. Total Saudi-Chinese trade grew 59 % in 2005 to US$14 billion and is anticipated to reach $40 billion in the next 4-5 years. Topping the list of Chinese exports to the Kingdom are textiles, processed and packaged foodstuffs, heavy industrial equipment and hardware.
The China-Saudi relationship is more than two decades in the making. Diplomatic relations were established in the late 1990s, subsequent to which great efforts were made to further develop political and economic ties between the two. High-ranking official visits and business delegations have become routine, especially following the establishment of the Saudi-China friendship association in 1997 with the objective of facilitating trade and business exchange.
During the visit of then-President Jiang Zemin to Saudi Arabia in 1999, an agreement was reached to open up the Chinese refinery sector to Saudi investment and to make oil exploration and development opportunities available to Chinese investors. As a result, Sinopec and Saudi Aramco have collaborated on downstream projects in China, joining forces to build a refinery in Qingdao in eastern Shandong province and to expand a petrochemical facility in Quanzhou in the province of Fujian. Furthermore, in 2004, Sinopec won the bid for a natural gas project in Al- Rub al-Khali gas fields. Gas exploration was not open to foreign participation previous to this agreement.
In January 2006, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz al-Saud visited China on his first trip outside the Middle East since taking the throne in August 2005. Reflective of the growing breadth of Sino-Saudi relations, King Abdullah and President Hu Jintao signed a pact on energy cooperation and joint investment in oil, natural gas, and mineral deposits. And while energy remains at the backbone of this relationship, the two countries used this visit to explore ways of boosting non-energy trade and invsetment, enhance cooperation in industrial development, and conclude broader economic, trade, taxation, and technical accords.
List of top companies who are investing in KSA
1. China National Machinery Industry Corp (SINOMACH), and China Nonferrous Metal Industries (NFC) signed a deal with Saudi based Western Way for Industrial Development Co. (WWIDC) to invest in a USD$4 (+) Billion aluminum complex and a power plant to be built in Jizan Economic City. The aluminum smelter is projected to produce 1.6 Million metric tons of alumina and 700,000 tons of aluminum annually
2. Guizhou Hongfu Industry & Commerce Development Co Ltd, the largest vertically integrated phosphate mining, fertilizer and chemical manufacturer in China was awarded the Maaden phosphate beneficiation plant tender in Al-Jalamid, one of the world's largest, underdeveloped reserves of phosphate. Maaden's plan is to use the exploited phosphate concentrate from Al-Jalamid to produce diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizers in Ras Azur, which will also become a major export
3. China Railway 18th Bureau has been approved this year for the second contract (CRW 200) of the North-South Railway. The contract was worth about USD$ 506 Million. The first contract was awarded to Saudi Bin Laden, and the third to a consortium consisting of Al-Rashid Trading & Contracting and Mitsui (Japan).
4. China Harbour Engineering Company was awarded a contract to build a container terminal at Jeddah Islamic Port
5. Hong Kong PCCW, along with two other consortia: Bahrain Telecommunications CO, and U.S Verizon Communications, was approved to operate Saudi Arabia's new fixed-line network in April this year. PCCW is currently setting up presence in the Kingdom as a JV partner with Saudi Arabia's Integrated Telecom Company (ITC).