Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours have strong commercial ties with China. The chummy reception for Xi Jinping will not go down well in Washington
on the Arabian peninsula was jittery. After an abrupt surge, oil prices were sliding amid a rich-country recession. Conflict brewing in the Persian Gulf left Saudi Arabia worried about attacks on its oilfields and eager to procure ballistic missiles to deter its rivals. Rebuffed by America, a young and powerful Saudi prince turned instead to China, which signed a secret deal to supply the kingdom with the weapons it wanted.
Start with the Gulf’s economic relationship with China, which is growing. Energy remains at the core. Last year 51% of China’s oil imports came from Arab states, and four-fifths of that came from the monarchies of the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council . In November Sinopec, a state-run energy giant, signed a 27-year agreement to buy liquefied natural gas from Qatar, the longest such gas deal ever.
None of this causes much angst in America. It is the Gulf’s growing ties with China in strategic sectors that worry people in Washington: telecoms, security and, increasingly, defence.members are keen customers of Huawei, the telecoms giant that is under American sanctions, and are happy to do business with companies like SenseTime, an artificial-intelligence firm blacklisted by America for its role in spying on Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
Mr Xi, by contrast, will probably go home with a stack of big investment deals and other announcements. On December 8th he is to meet the Saudi leadership, including Muhammad bin Salman, the crown prince andruler, then attend a summit with Gulf leaders and have a further meeting with figures from across the Arab world. Saudis joke about the prospect of the taciturn Mr Xi joining a traditional sword dance.
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