Does Saudi Arabia Benefit From China’s Belt and Road Initiative?

Abstract

The People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia enjoy close and friendly relations and share broad common interests-regardless of their ideological differences, evident in their names. China’s Belt and Road Initiative is aimed at developing infrastructure projects and declining transportation costs to interlink cross-border trade deals between China and countries along the routes. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a central hub connecting Asia, Africa and Europe, has been a significant part of the initiative. Moreover, Saudi Arabia is one of the first countries that have responded positively to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI brings China much closer to Saudi Arabia. As BRI’s linchpin in the Middle East, dose Saudi Arabia benefit from this initiative? Based on the elaborate analysis of main research question, this study reveals that the BRI offers great potential opportunities for the Kingdom in terms of infrastructure construction, energy cooperation, technology and finance, culture exchange, security and defense. In addition, China could collaborate with Saudi Arabia in a significant number of sectors where Saudi and Chinese strengths are complementary. The deeper Sino-Saudi cooperation can also brighten the prospects for Saudi Vision 2030.