Xi Jinping Article in Saudi Paper Calls for Win-win Cooperation on the New Silk Road Policy

Xi Jinping arrived today in Saudi Arabia for a two-day visit, before going on to Iran and Egypt, in a trip aimed at intervening against the British provocation of Sunni-Shia warfare. Before arriving in Riyadh, Xi published an article in the Saudi paper Alriyadh titled “Be Good Partners for Common Development.” The visit comes just days after China published its first “Arab Policy” document, laying out China’s intention to extend the Silk Road concept into Southwest Asia.

Xi’s article doesn’t mention Iran or the war danger, but focuses on China’s friendship and trade relations with the Saudis — China is Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner, and the Saudis are China’s largest source of oil imports.

“Over 2000 years ago,” he wrote, “numerous camel caravans from the two sides traveled along the ancient Silk Road. Diplomatic envoys from the Seljuk Empire visited China during the Tang Dynasty. Zheng He, China’s Muslim navigator in the Ming Dynasty, traveled to Jeddah, Mecca and Medina, and he described them as paradises where people enjoyed peace and harmony. The interactions and mutual learning between the Chinese and Islamic civilizations are an important part in the history of inter-civilization exchanges.”

Xi said the two nations should “bear in mind the strategic nature of China-Saudi Arabia relations…. Let us forge a win-win partnership of mutual benefit and common development,” emphasizing “aerospace, peaceful use of nuclear energy and renewable energy…. We hope and trust that Saudi Arabia, located at the west crossroads of the Belt and Road, will become an important participant of, contributor to and beneficiary of this initiative.”