Saudi Arabia has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the Kingdom to deepen ties with Beijing amid strained relations with Washington.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the trip could happen as soon as May. The trip would mark Xi’s first foreign visit since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
The Journal quoted a Saudi official saying, “The crown prince and Xi are close friends, and both understand that there is huge potential for stronger ties. It is not just ‘They buy oil from us, and we buy weapons from them’.”
“The crown prince and Xi are close friends and both understand that there is huge potential for stronger ties,” said a Saudi official. “It is not just ‘They buy oil from us and we buy weapons from them’.”https://t.co/62Q7K8Jq6E
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Saudi Arabia’s strained ties with the US
Xi’s potential visit would offer a stark contrast to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his relationship with President Biden, who pledged during the 2020 election to treat the kingdom like a “pariah” state.
Since US President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the strategic partnership between the US and the world’s top oil-exporting state has been strained. The US has been tested by Riyadh’s human rights record, particularly in light of the war in Yemen and the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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The Journal reported that Saudi Arabia plans to replicate the warm reception it gave to former US President Donald Trump in 2017 when he visited the kingdom on his first trip abroad as president.
Most recently, Prince Mohammed has refused to speak with Biden in recent weeks over efforts to subdue spiking oil prices during Russia’s invasion.
In an interview with The Atlantic published earlier this month, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said he did not care whether Biden misunderstood things about him.
Read more: Why did Saudi crown prince skip China’s Winter Olympics?
Throughout the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Saudi Arabia has rejected requests from the US to pump more oil to tamper with surging crude prices.
So far, the Saudi government and China’s foreign ministry have not commented on the development.