President Xi Jinping of China made a historic trip to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to solidify business relations between the two nations. He met with King Salman and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to strengthen the ties between them and to underline their joint commitment to a stable, global oil market. The Chinese leader was awarded an honorary doctorate from King Saud University, and the two sides engaged in diplomatic talks to develop strategic partnerships that would be of mutual economic benefit as they signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement.
Bilateral deals worth 30 billion USD were on the table and the communication from both sides stressed the need for further investment opportunities and improving on non-oil trading possibilities. These included car production, desalination capabilities, petrochemical investments, clean energy technologies and mining operations. Both countries agreed that the financial sector needed to capitalise on investment potential as outlined with Vision 2030 and the Belt and Road Initiative.