The 10th Arab-China Business Conference, the largest and first hosted by Saudi Arabia, began with $10bn in investment agreements in more than 30 sectors, including technology, renewables, agriculture, real estate, minerals, supply chains, tourism, and healthcare.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al Saud opened the summit. The minister said the conference’s theme, “Cooperation for Prosperity,” underscored the relevance, potential, and shared vision for Arab-Chinese trade and investment cooperation.
Engineer Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Investment, welcomed guests at the Arab-China Business Conference opening ceremony. The minister predicted that this collaboration will encourage growth, expansion, and investment. He also stressed the importance of economic trade, noting that Arab energy exports helped China expand industrially, while Chinese goods reached every Arab home, office, and industry.
Over 3,500 corporate executives, innovators, and politicians from 26 countries attended plenaries, seminars, special meetings, and side events on ESG and supply chain resilience.
Arab-China trade shines
The Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) organized the trade and investment conference in partnership with the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, the Chinese Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and the Union of Arab Chambers. In 2022, Arab-Chinese trade reached $430bn.
China-Saudi Arabia trade grew 30% in 2021 to $106bn.
In 2021, China invested $23bn in the Arab globe, $3.5bn in Saudi Arabia.
Event-side B2B deals
- A $533m arrangement between AMR ALuwlaa Company and Zhonghuan International Group (Hong Kong) to build a factory to reduce iron ore and make pellets for Saudi smelting facilities.
- A $500m deal between Saudi Arabia’s ASK Group and China National Geological & Mining Corp to design, finance, build, and operate an Arabian Shield copper mining project.
- A $266m framework deal between Mabani Al-Safwah, China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Co, and Top International Engineering Corporation Arabia for modern building development in the kingdom.
Government-to-business agreements
- A $5.6bn joint venture between MISA and Human Horizons, a Chinese developer of autonomous driving technology and producer of electric automobiles under the HiPhi brand, to study, develop, manufacture, and sell cars.
- A $266m MISA-Hibobi Technology partnership to create tourism and other apps.
- MISA helped Saudi railway business SABATCO and Chinese state-owned and publicly listed rolling stock manufacturer CRRC construct rail wagons and wheels in Saudi Arabia for $250m.
- A $150m partnership between MISA, MIM, and Chinese industrial firm Sunda to manufacture caustic soda, chlorine and derivatives, chlorinated paraffin, calcium chloride, poly vinyl chloride (PVC), and associated conversion goods in the kingdom.
Day two’s agenda
Keynote speeches, private meetings with government leaders, and specialized workshops on oil and gas supply chains, innovation and research partnerships, global commercial supply chains, mining, and food processing will highlight the second day of the Arab-China Business Conference.
Dilma Rousseff, former Brazilian president and current president of New Development Bank, will deliver the closing keynote on the second day of the Arab-China Business Conference.