Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman (right) greets President Xi Jinping at the Riyadh King Kahlid International Airport on Jan. 19.

 

China’s “Belt and Road” initiative played a central role in President Xi Jinping’s recent state visits to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran from Jan. 19 to 23.
 

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Xi upgraded bilateral ties to the level of a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” met with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) chiefs, who called for the early establishment of a China–GCC free trade zone, and signed a memorandum of understanding to materialize interconnectivity and joint development projects within the framework of the “Belt and Road” initiative. Representing the culmination of years of trade development, the memorandum covers several fast-growing sectors, such as communications, energy and aerospace. In 2013, China was the country’s foremost trading partner, and in 2014, bilateral trade reached $69.1 billion.
 

Cairo was the second destination of the tour. This year marked the 60th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties with Egypt, and the two countries elevated their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership one year ago.

Alexander Neill, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, observed that China seems particularly interested in developing transit hubs and trading zones in northern Egypt to incorporate Africa into the “Belt and Road” network. Moreover, Xi and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisiare will likely explore further defense and security cooperation, given that China plans to establish a naval logistics base in Djibouti, Neill said.

In July 2015, several world powers, including the US, Russia, China, the UK, France and Germany, decided to lift the international sanctions on Iran. Now that Iran is no longer under diplomatic pressure, trade can resume without impediments to bilateral trade. President Xi’s visit to Tehran sent a strong message to the international community that China and Iran are heading toward a new phase in bilateral relations.
 

The benefits of the “Belt and Road” initiative to the Middle East are innumerable, said Ann Lee, a professor of economics at New York University. “The new infrastructure will allow for many industries and businesses to spring up and take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the new transportation gateways,” she said. Subsequently, factories will  spring up along the Silk Road Economic Belt, creating jobs for local people and injecting new life into local economies. The “Belt and Road” network will also enable more people-to-people exchanges between the Middle East and countries in East Asia and Europe, bringing the cultural globalization and mutual understanding that can form the basis of a lasting peace, she said.

Lee also highlighted China’s unique advantage in advancing the Middle East agenda. “As a friend of both Shia and Sunni nations, China can help mediate peace talks between the warring factions. China has a unique opportunity to bridge the differences among Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt in a way that probably the United States can’t even do. If China can help these nations come to peaceful terms with each other, terrorism will end since most terrorist activities are supported by these nations as a means of proxy war. Once terrorism ceases to be the huge problem that it is, the refugee crisis will come to an end,” she said.

 

 

Wang Xiaozhen is a reporter at the Chinese Social Sciences Today.