deadlock in trade negotiations between China and Saudi Arabia; In the shadow of American pressure

According to the international group Tasnim news agency, China will host next week economic ministers of the countries of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, which reports indicate a stalemate in the negotiations between the two sides regarding the conclusion of a free trade agreement between the parties. The Chinese list has not agreed on the goods requested for customs exemption, and this has put the negotiations on the verge of failure on the eve of this meeting.

Arabia emphasizes that the tariff-free entry of Chinese goods is contrary to Riyadh’s proposed industrial development project based on the vision of 2030, which is what the negotiations to It has failed.

However, some sources claim that the problem in trade negotiations between China and Saudi Arabia is caused by Saudi plans to deepen strategic relations with the United States. Saudi Arabia and the United States are negotiating to conclude a strategic agreement, and it is said that one of the demands of the White House for signing this agreement is the need to reduce Beijing-Riyadh relations.

2022 The meeting of the leaders of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council and China was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and the industrial cooperation and investment meeting of the two sides, which is scheduled to be held next week with the presence of the economic and trade ministers of the Cooperation Council and the head of the Development and Reforms Committee of the ruling party in China, in The framework of the agreements of the Jeddah meeting.

America has serious concerns about China’s relations with Saudi Arabia and has put Riyadh under political pressure to limit relations with Beijing. The volume of trade between China and Saudi Arabia is over 80 billion dollars, and the two countries have traded over 520 billion dollars from 2017 to 2023.

In addition, the United Arab Emirates has been under pressure from the United States to limit relations with China, and some reports regarding the construction of a Chinese military base in the United Arab Emirates made the White House fail this project last year with a serious warning to Abu Dhabi. put This is while Abu Dhabi seeks to increase its trade relations with China to 200 billion dollars by 2030.

Persian Gulf countries play an important role in China’s energy supply as the second fuel consumers in the world, so that 32.5% of China’s hydrocarbon fuel is supplied from countries in the south of the Persian Gulf. Also, Qatar alone supplies 20% of China’s gas consumption, and Oman, as China’s fourth trading partner in Arab countries, exports 40.4 billion dollars of oil to China annually, which is proof of the country’s dependence on the energy of this region.

The volume of commercial exchanges of 6 countries of the Cooperation Council with the Chinese amounts to 315.5 billion dollars, and during the last one year, the exports of the countries of the Cooperation Council to China have seen a decrease of 17% and reached 173 billion dollars from 209 billion dollars. Is.

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