Saudi Crown Prince touts 'good neighborliness,' strategic ties with China's Xi

beijingwalker · Mar 28, 2023

Saudi Crown Prince touts 'good neighborliness,' strategic ties with China's Xi

i24NEWSMarch 29, 2023 at 12:55 AMlatest revision March 29, 2023 at 12:56 AM

Saudi Press Agency via APSaudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) greets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Xi says Beijing will make more contributions to promote peace, stability, and development in the Middle East

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed a wide range of subjects over the phone, including the importance of follow-up talks between Riyadh and Tehran, Saudi state media reported Tuesday.

Xi recently helped broker a surprise rapprochement deal between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia earlier this month to restore diplomatic ties – a display of China’s growing influence in the Middle East, to Washington’s ire.

Prince Mohamed voiced appreciation for Beijing’s initiative to support “efforts to develop good neighborliness” between Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, according to Saudi state news agency SPA.

The two leaders stressed the importance of strategic ties between the world’s top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and economic powerhouse China, a main trade partner of Gulf Arab states. Xi said the two countries would firmly support each other on issues involving their respective core interests and make more contributions to promote peace, stability, and development in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have voiced concern about perceived disengagement by the United States – their main security guarantor – from the region, and have moved to diversify partners with economic and security interests in mind.

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran are expected to meet during the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan, after Riyadh and Tehran agreed to revive relations after years of hostility that had threatened stability and helped fuel conflicts in the region.