China and Saudi Arabia signed a protocol in Beijing on Monday
evening on cooperation in the areas of petroleum, natural gas and
minerals, signaling a fresh move to expand the already substantial
cooperation between the two countries.
China and Saudi Arabia have made remarkable achievements in
economic, trade and energy cooperation, President Hu Jintao
said during his talks with visiting Saudi King Abdullah bin
Abdul-Aziz, adding that Saudi Arabia has become China's biggest
trade partner in west Asia and north Africa.
Hu proposed that the two countries strengthen energy cooperation
for mutual benefit so as to further bilateral relations and
substantial cooperation in various fields.
China will make joint efforts with Saudi Arabia to conduct
all-dimensional cooperation in the energy field and improve the
bilateral energy dialogue mechanism and mode of cooperation, Hu
said.
King Abdullah said Saudi Arabia will advance bilateral
reciprocal cooperation in economy, energy and infrastructure, and
encourage cultural exchanges with China.
The Saudi king arrived here on Sunday for a three-day state
visit to China as Hu's guest. It is the first ever visit of a Saudi
king to China since the two countries established diplomatic
relations in 1990. It is also the first official visit to another
country for the king since he was crowned last year.
According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan, trade
between China and Saudi Arabia has been growing rapidly in recent
years. As of November last year, two-way trade was valued at
US$14.5 billion, up 59 percent year-on-year.
This is "an astonishing growth" that is higher than the average
23 percent growth of China's foreign trade for the same period,
Kong said.
China imported 20.01 million tons of crude oil from Saudi Arabia
during that time.
According to Saudi Ambassador designate to China Saleh
Alhegeian, Saudi Arabia exports to China about 450,000 barrels of
oil daily, which accounts for 14 percent of China's oil
imports.
Saudi Arabia will be a powerful backer for China in oil supply,
Saleh said.
Describing the visit of the Saudi king as a new milestone in the
friendly relations between Saudi Arabia and China, he said: "We are
looking forward to more and more cooperation between the two
nations."
Wu Chunhua, Chinese ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said China and
Saudi Arabia are strongly supplementary in economy and have broad
prospects for trade and economic cooperation.
China is now Saudi Arabia's fourth largest importer and fifth
largest exporter, while Saudi Arabia is China's tenth largest
importer and biggest oil supplier, he said.
China and Saudi Arabia have conducted large-scale energy
cooperation since 2003, and witnessed a sound momentum of mutual
investment in the energy sector. An oil refining project jointly
invested by Chinese and Saudi companies has been put into
production in China, and negotiations are underway for more
projects.
Wu highly evaluated the significance of the Saudi king's visit
to China, saying it will surely push Sino-Saudi cooperation to a
new level.
(Xinhua News Agency January 24, 2006)