According to the latest news, as global oil prices continue to rise and economic downward pressure increases, traditional Middle East oil-producing countries have also begun to adjust their strategies, no longer pinning their hopes on the United States and Europe, but have set their sights on Asia. Especially after China signed a long-term cooperation contract with Iran, other Middle Eastern countries have also begun to change their thinking. The new Saudi Prime Minister Salman Jr. has begun to actively promote cooperation with China and invite Chinese companies. The Red Sea Future City may usher in a new development momentum.
As international oil prices have remained high for a long time, OPEC is preparing to hold a high-level meeting next week to discuss whether to continue to reduce oil production. Obviously, the decisions of these oil-producing countries in the Middle East are not the result expected by European and American countries. After the Russian-Ukrainian conflict began, in order to reduce oil prices and reduce the burden on European allies, Biden personally spoke with leaders of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but was rejected. Although the two sides later called, the oil-producing countries seemed to have agreed and politely rejected the United States' demand for increased production. Biden then visited countries in the Middle East in July, but still failed to achieve his goal and was still rejected.
However, at the 77th UN General Assembly, representatives of the six major oil-producing countries in the Middle East took the initiative to find China to discuss cooperation. Among them, Saudi Arabia promised to give priority to China in energy cooperation in the next 50 years and strengthen mutual energy trust between each other.
In the context of many countries around the world worrying about problems in oil and natural gas supply, Saudi Arabia's commitment seems to be very exciting. Especially after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, oil prices continued to soar due to market reasons, which forced many countries to purchase large quantities of oil, increasing their strategic oil reserves, and worried that oil prices would rise rapidly, resulting in fiscal difficulties. Now the representatives of the six oil-producing countries in the world are actively showing goodwill to China. Under such a competitive landscape, China is more confident to negotiate prices with these countries. Not only do we have to worry about stopping supply of oil to , but it is also possible to negotiate a better price.
Therefore, at the 77th United Nations General Assembly, members of the GCC, namely Saudi Arabia, Qatar , Kuwait , UAE, Oman and Barain have actively communicated with China, which has shown that in the eyes of these shrewd Middle East oil countries, it is possible that they will purchase a large amount of oil in the future, and that the only one who maintains economic development momentum is China. Although GCC member states generally do not have much say in major international affairs, they have a great influence on global energy. If they unite, even the United States may not be able to do anything to them.
The reason why Saudi Arabia and other GCC member states are willing to cooperate with China is closely related to the vital interests of all countries. As early as October last year, Huawei Digital Energy held the 2021 Global Digital Summit on Dubai . At the meeting, a highly-watched signing attracted attention from all parties. The signing parties were Huawei Digital Energy and Shandong Power Construction Third Factory Company. The two companies will build the Saudi Red Sea Future City project. Because the project is of great importance. After the signing of the contract was completed, Saudi Arabia specially lit up Dubai Tower to celebrate the incident.
It is reported that the Future City project covers an area of 26,500 square kilometers and is planned to be completed in 2025. Salman Jr. hopes it will become a brand new modern city, and the investment in urban construction will cost about US$500 billion. Coupled with the long-term cooperation reached by China and Iran, it is obvious that more China will appear in the Middle East in the future.
