Saudi FM praises Arab-Chinese relations as business conference opens in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan lauded on Sunday the Arab world’s trade and economic partnership with China, while underscoring the importance of this relation and the mutual desire to boost it.
“China is the Arab world’s largest trade partner where the total volume of trade exchange between both sides reached $430 billion in 2022,” Prince Faisal said. “The Kingdom accounts for 25 percent of the total trade exchange between China and Arab countries,” the minister told attendees at the 10th Arab-China Business Conference.
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Themed “Collaborating for Prosperity,” the conference is being held in Riyadh under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and that will run until June 12.
Prince Faisal added that the volume of trade exchange between Saudi Arabia and China reached $106 billion in 2022, with 30 percent increase compared to 2021.
“We are proud of what the partnership between us has achieved so far and what prompts us to further strengthen it is the mutual desire to develop and expand the volume of businesses and partnerships through linkage and alignment,” the minister said while focusing on how benefiting from the Arab world’s resources and those of China can better contribute to this relationship.
Over 3,000 decision-makers, government officials, investors, business owners, and experts from 23 countries, the 10th Session of the Arab-China Business Conference aims to enhance the strategic Arab-China partnership based on the Belt and Road Initiative in the fields of investment, economy, and trade, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Dialogue sessions and bilateral meetings will be held to discuss strategies for achieving prosperity and sustainable development in Arab countries and China.
Prince Faisal said that it was “inspiring” to witness the presence of a larger number of decision-makers and experts from both China and the Arab world to be present in Saudi Arabia.
“Our meeting today is an opportunity to work and strengthen the historical Arab-Chinese friendship and to work on building a common future” that will create a good outcome that will benefit the people of both regions.
He expressed hope that with this meeting, Chinese investors will explore and find more opportunities for further investments in the Arab world in different sectors.
Prince Faisal highlighted the importance and the positive consequences left by China’s President Xi Jinping’s visit to Saudi Arabia in December and that strengthened the bond between both countries be it on the political, economic or trade levels.
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