18 August 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia and China have signed a number of housing and infrastructure agreements amounting to over $1.33 billion, furthering ties and investment between the two countries.
At the Saudi-China Business Forum in Beijing, which commenced today, Saudi Arabia’s Minister for Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing, Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, invited Chinese firms to invest in the Kingdom’s real estate sector.
The forum reportedly focused on investment opportunities between Riyadh and Beijing in regard to urban infrastructure, housing, real estate development and financing.
According to the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Saudi and Chinese entities signed 12 agreements at the forum, amounting to a total investment value of over $1.33 billion. The agreements are reportedly related to infrastructure development and financing.
Although the relevant companies involved in the agreements were not specified or revealed, it is speculated that one of them could be the Chinese state-owned investment conglomerate, CITIC, as Hogail had met with its representatives in Beijing and discussed construction in Saudi Arabia and “green housing technology”.
The dozen agreements come after Saudi Arabia itself hosted the Arab-China Business Conference in June in its capital, Riyadh, which had resulted in over $10 billion in deals. Saudi Aramco had also acquired a $3.4 billion stake in the Chinese petrochemical firm, Rongsheng Petrochemical Co. Ltd, last month, further cementing business and economic ties between the growing allies.
