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  • Qatar-US Ties: Gas-Rich Nation Balances Relations With Biden and China, Iran

    Qatar had previously become the first Gulf state to open its door to Afghan evacuees when the Taliban regained control two years ago, and remains a go-to place for the US to build bridges in a region fraught with challenges. The energy-rich nation has played a similar role following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with US and European officials travelling to Doha to address fears over gas supply.

  • Strong China-Gulf Energy Ties Spill Into Key Regional Issues

    An invitation to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran – among other countries – to become full members of BRICS emphasizes the Gulf’s growing linkages with global economic heavyweights like China. While a less conspicuous undertaking, the August 16 launch of the Saudi-China Business Forum in Beijing, under the patronage of Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs, and Housing Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, coincided with the signing of 12 agreements totaling approximately $1.33 billion in pledged investments. Such flurries of firm-level commercial activity and the expansion of institutional linkages contribute to a growing sense of economic momentum between Gulf countries and China.

  • Turkey Energy Minister Says Nuclear Power Program Deal With China Soon

    Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said talks can be finalized “in a few months’ time” after Chinese officials recently visited the likely site of the future plant, near the borders with Bulgaria and Greece. “We’ve been in talks with a Chinese company for a very long time,” Bayraktar told reporters in a press conference on Thursday, adding that any differences aren’t major obstacles. “So we will be able to fill the gaps and strike a deal soon with China for the nuclear power program.”

  • US-Saudi Arms Megadeal Collapsed When China, Russia Links Emerged

    American defense giant RTX and a Saudi weapons firm were heading toward a multibillion-dollar deal when it was abruptly called off early this year. The reason, say people familiar with the talks, was RTX’s concerns that its Saudi partner’s companies were pursuing business with sanctioned Chinese and Russian entities. That unease was a deciding factor for an advisory board of retired American military officers to resign from the Saudi company, Scopa Defense, the people said. Scopa fired its American chief executive who had raised the sanctions concerns with his company’s owner and U.S. officials. And now other major Western defense companies are reconsidering early-stage agreements primarily because of the concerns around engagement with Russian and Chinese entities, the people said.

  • Saudi prince sees bright future for esports partnership with China

    China's fast-growing esports sector will continue to attract Saudi capital in the years ahead providing huge opportunities for gaming companies and talents in both sides, said a Saudi royalty. The gaming and esports sector in Saudi Arabia is experiencing rapid growth. This aligns with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and economic diversification plans, aiming for long-term prosperity. The vision has enabled the exploration of new sectors, including gaming and esports, benefiting the country enormously, said Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, chairman of the Saudi Esports Federation (SEF) and the Arab Esports Federation. Launched by the Saudi government in 2016, Saudi Vision 2030 is an economic and social reform blueprint designed to open the kingdom up to the world, and boost communication and coordination on regional and international affairs.

  • Luxury, Adidas and ‘made in China’: What Saudi fashion consumers are buying

    The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of fashion, but it’s on track to become a serious player — in terms of both creation and consumption. According to a recent report by the Saudi Fashion Commission titled “State of Fashion in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2023,” retail fashion sales in the country are expected to expand at an average annual growth rate of 13 percent to $32 billion from 2021 to 2025.

  • China’s Huawei opens cloud data centre in Saudi Arabia in regional push

    Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL) has opened a cloud data centre in the Saudi capital Riyadh in a bid to grow its online service offerings in the Middle East and North Africa, the Chinese tech giant said on Monday. The cloud data centre in Riyadh, Huawei's 30th worldwide, will support government services for the Saudi kingdom and allow for AI applications and language models in Arabic, a company official told a briefing.

  • How China’s Economic Slowdown Will Impact Its Rise to Top Economy

    “The conventional wisdom seems to be flipping from a concern with the unstoppable rise of Chinese power to a worry about the irrevocable decline of China’s economy and population,” says Richard Fontaine, chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security in Washington.

  • China’s factory activity shrinks for 5th month, maintains pressure for policy support

    China's manufacturing activity contracted for a fifth straight month in August, an official survey showed on Thursday, maintaining pressure on officials to provide support to shore up economic growth amid soft demand both at home and abroad. On the brighter side, new orders reverted to expansion for the first time in five months and factory owners indicated that producer prices were improving for the first time in seven months, although the vast services sector continued to trend downwards.

  • China Eyes Partnership With Gulf Countries For Space Exploration

    Developing the space sector and engaging in ambitious exploration plans requires massive upfront capital expenditure for projects that may not pay off for several years. These are investment time horizons with which Gulf countries not only have significant experience from oil and gas, but also match their long-term strategies to diversify their economies. The expansion of space activities is accelerating across the region thanks to advances in the technologies that constitute the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) – blockchain, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, materials science, nanotechnology and biotechnology – that have decreased satellite launch costs and increased the capabilities of smaller satellites.