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China has just announced that foreign visitors no longer will be subject to its previously strict COVID-driven quarantine requirements. It was not that long ago that Xi Jingping, fresh from his third coronation as the country’s president, made an overseas trip of his own, to Saudi Arabia. There, the Chinese leader met with his Saudi counterparts and signed a series of agreements that underscored the growing relationship between the two countries.
Many observers have seen Xi’s two-day visit to Riyadh just over two weeks ago as a “snub” to Washington, especially after President Biden’s visit to the Kingdom in July accomplished virtually nothing. Xi and King Salman signed what they termed “a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement,” which the Chinese president posited constituted a “new era” in the ties between the two countries. Again, in contrast to the outcome of the Biden visit, Xi and the king agreed to hold future summit meetings every two years.
Xi’s visit also was the occasion for Chinese and Saudi companies to sign 34 agreements, worth anywhere from $29 billion to $50 billion, depending on which report one chooses to believe. The agreements cover the gamut of economic activity, including tourism, green energy, transportation, logistics, the medical industry, information technology, genetics, mining and construction. The two countries also signed an agreement to “harmonize” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious Vision 2030, which seeks to transform his country’s economy, and China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which has sputtered in recent years.
China is the world’s biggest petroleum importer and the Saudis also guaranteed that they would be a “trusted partner” for its energy needs.
If the tone and tenor of the Xi love-fest in the Kingdom’s capital were not enough to disconcert Washington, his visit also occasioned the signing of an expansive memorandum with Huawei, China’s hi-tech giant.
