The first Sino-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit
held in Riyadh on December 9 was a turning point in the relations between China
and the Middle East. For the first time in China’s relations with the Gulf
states, the Chinese President Xi Jinping reached out to various leaders of the
Arab world, and he has conducted a highly successful presidential foreign
policy with significant implications for Sino-Gulf collaboration.
President Xi on December 9 attended the Summit with
Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, Emir
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah of
Bahrain, Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah of Kuwait, Deputy
Prime Minister Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said of Oman, Ruler Sheikh Hamad bin
Mohammad Al Sharqi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and GCC Secretary-General
Nayef Al Hajraf.
The content of the keynote speech delivered by
President Xi deserves our attention.
First, he diplomatically expressed his gratitude to
Saudi Arabi for hosting the Sino-GCC Summit, emphasizing the two millennia in
the historical relations between China and the Gulf states. President Xi
pointed to China’s initiative to establish contacts with the GCC once it began
in 1981 on the basis of solidarity, mutual aid and win-win cooperation.
Second the President skilfully stressed the respect of
each other’s sovereignty, independence, non-interference in domestic affairs, developmental
path, equality, and the defence of multilateralism. The concept of
multilateralism has been frequently used by the Chinese President in his
foreign policy speeches and contacts with various countries.
Third, President Xi alerted the Gulf leaders to the
vast Chinese market so that both sides can and will forge closer cooperation
and embrace economic diversification – an important incentive to the Gulf
states given the vastness of the Chinese market and given the need for some
Gulf states to adopt a more independent foreign policy.
Fourth, he reminded how China and the Gulf states have
been cooperating with each other in dealing with financial crises, the Covid-19
pandemic, and other natural disasters.
Fifth, the Chinese President turned to concrete areas
of collaboration in the coming years, including China’s Global Development
Initiative (GDI) that he unveiled in the United Nations in September 2021 and
how the GDI can match the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In fact, the
GDI’s emphases on poverty alleviation, public health provision and gender
empowerment match the 2030 Agenda. As such, China and the Gulf states have the
common interest in forging collaboration in maintaining sustainable
development. The Chinese emphases show how President Xi and his foreign policy
advisers skilfully utilize the GDI as a tool of united front work to win the
hearts and minds of the Gulf states.
Sixth, as China under Xi Jinping era has widened the
definition of security from traditional to non-traditional areas, like public
health, the President’s emphasis on the need to maintain peace and security in
the Gulf region could easily appeal to the Gulf leaders and win their support.
Seventh, President Xi’s foreign policy has been
emphasizing cultural exchanges between China and the Gulf states. His speech on
December 9 pointed to the “rich values of Eastern civilizations” so that both
China and the Gulf states can and will contribute to the development of human
civilizations. The choice of cultural bonds to enhance civilizational development
has become strategic in the foreign policy of China under Xi Jinping. He also
added that China would cooperate with three hundred universities, middle and
primary schools in the Gulf states to enhance Chinese language education. There
will be cultural and language forums on both sides to deepen cultural exchanges
and mutual learning.
After many Confucian Institutes were criticized by the anti-China media and politicians in the Western world for propagating the Chinese cultures and values in the past several years, President Xi Jinping’s new foreign policy toward the Gulf states is to repackage the Chinese language and cultural education in another form through cultural exchanges and mutual learning.
(221209) — RIYADH, Dec. 9, 2022 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the first China-Arab States Summit and delivers a keynote speech titled “Carrying Forward the Spirit of China-Arab Friendship and Jointly Building a China-Arab Community with a Shared Future in the New Era” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 9, 2022. (Xinhua)
Eighth, on the practical side, President Xi remarked
that China would continue to import large quantities of crude oil from GCC
states and purchase more Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), apart from the need to
strengthen mutual cooperation in engineering services, storage, transportation
and the refinery of oil and gas.
Most importantly, President Xi stressed that the
Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange platform will be used for Renminbi
settlement in oil and gas trade. China will also cooperate with the Gulf states
in developing clean and low-carbon technologies that involve hydrogen, energy
storage, win and photovoltaic power, smart power grids, the production of new
energy equipment, and the peaceful use of nuclear technology.
Hence, the Chinese President adopted a two-pronged
strategy to win the hearts and minds of Gulf states: using Renminbi (RMB) as an
exchange currency that will lead to the internationalization of RMB and
utilizing technological development as a glue that will bind China closer to
the Gulf states.
Ninth, President Xi mentioned that China and GCC
countries would cooperate on financial regulation, set up a joint investment
commission, support sovereign wealth funds from both sides, and facilitate the
Arabian entry into the Chinese capital market. Cooperation will also be forged
in the areas of digital economy, green development, and digital currency.
Tenth, in the realm of high-tech and aerospace
cooperation, the Chinese President emphasized that China is ready to build big
data and cloud computing centres with the Gulf states, strengthen 5G and 6G
technological innovation, the develop e-commerce and communications network in
Gulf states. New breakthroughs in aerospace cooperation can be seen in China’s
outreaching efforts and projects with the Gulf states in dealing with remote
sensing, communications satellites, space utilization and aerospace
infrastructure. The China-GCC joint centre for lunar and deep space exploration
will be established, according to President Xi’s plans. All these Chinese
efforts are attractive to the Gulf states in terms of the co-development of
space exploration and aerospace technology – a win-win situation that earns the
support of Gulf states.
The responses of the leaders of Gulf states to
President Xi’s speech were warm. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that the
risks and challenges in the world require the solidarity of all parties and
countries concerned. He praised President Xi for making China to achieve great
progress in its development and becoming “a progressive force” in leading global
governance. Prince Salman said that the Gulf states look forward to cooperating
with China in all areas, including infrastructure development, public health,
energy, food security, the maintenance of “a more just and reasonable
international order,” and the promotion of regional peace. At the end of the
Summit, both sides issued a joint declaration to approve an action plan for the
strategic dialogue of both sides from 2023 to 2027.
President Xi’s high-profile visit to the Middle East
appeared to raise the alarm of the US, whose relations with Saudi Arabia have
recently affected by their opinion difference over the question of oil
production and the issue of human rights. John Kirby, the strategic
communications coordinator at the National Security Council, said: “We’re
mindful of the influence that China is trying to grow around the world.”
In fact, on December 8, when President Xi talked with
Prince Salman, both sides agreed to forge strategic partnership and to hold
high-level leadership meeting once every two years in a rotational basis. Both
sides signed an agreement to build up the Belt and Road Initiative through
judicial, educational, investment and housing cooperation. China will assist
Saudi Arabia in developing a green Middle East through automobile, energy,
petrochemical, mining, and technological collaboration.
In return, Saudi Arabia announced that it supports not
only the one-China principle but also China’s efforts at protecting its
sovereignty and security and territorial integrity. Moreover, it opposes
foreign intervention in China’s internal affairs in the name of human rights.
Xi Jinping’s new foreign policy of winning the hearts and minds of the Saudi
Arabian leaders was clearly quite successful.
In conclusion, China’s new foreign policy toward the
Gulf states has been widening the scope of cooperation to all areas, embracing
economic, educational, cultural, technological and sustainability realms.
Economically, the experiment with the wider use of Renminbi as an exchange
currency in Sino-Gulf interactions is going to be a landmark speeding up the
process of the RMB internationalization. In response to the inroads made by
China in the Middle East, its major competitor, namely the US, has naturally raised
its eyebrows. However, if the world is going to be multipolar rather than being
led by the formerly bipolar world dominated only by the US and Russia, then
President Xi Jinping’s visit to the Gulf states has already marked the irreversible
decline of the American soft power in the new world of international politics.
