Arab leaders arrive in Riyadh for China-GCC Summit

Arab leaders started arriving in Riyadh on Thursday ahead of the Arab-China Summit that will be held in the Kingdom, according to SPA.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and his delegation were among the first to arrive for the summit. Other leaders to arrive were Kuwait’s Crown Prince Mishal Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani, President Ismail Omar Guelleh of the Republic of Djibouti, President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine, Tunisia’s President Kais Saied and Libya’s Presidency Council head Mohammed Al Menfi, among other officials.

The China-GCC Summit will see the gathering of leaders from the six gulf nations: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

China’s President Xi Jinping arrived earlier in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as part of his three-day visit to the Kingdom, where he will attend summits with leaders of GCC. Trade and investment ties between the nations are expected to feature prominently in Xi's visit.

The China-Gulf and China-Arab summits is expected to involve dozens of agreements and MOUs.

Outside energy, GCC states provide markets for Chinese goods, construction contracts and investment opportunities in infrastructure, manufacturing and digital economies that fit Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative.

Chinese tech giant Huawei is finalising a location for a new data centre in Saudi that would be the region's second after Abu Dhabi, a senior regional executive told local media in August. Online giant Alibaba has partnered with STC Group for cloud services in Saudi Arabia.

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GCC-China trade has doubled between 2010 and 2021, London-based think tank Asia House said in a report. However, discussions on a free trade deal have dragged since 2004.

Meanwhile, Khalifa Shaheen Almarar, Minister of State, led the UAE delegation at the 154th preparatory Ministerial Council meetings of the GCC Supreme Council in its 43rd session, which was held in Riyadh.

The Ministerial Council discussed political, economic and development affairs, the environment, security, and legislative issues, and took the necessary decisions and recommendations which will be submitted to a meeting of the leaders of the Member States.

(with inputs from Reuters, Wam)

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