Expanding China-GCC ties to include renewable investments

President Xi Jinping’s high-profile visit to Saudi Arabia, which included participation in the first China-Arab States Summit and a Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) Summit, was used – among many other things – as an opportunity to announce business deals. The Saudi Press Agency reported thirty-four Chinese investment agreements on December 8th split across eight categories including solar power and green hydrogen. One such is a framework co-operation agreement between China’s CGN Energy and Saudi Arabia’s Al Jomaih Group covering the development of 10 GW of wind, solar, gas and coal power plants across the Persian Gulf, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan, and other Asian countries. Another is ACWA Power’s strategic agreements with nine Chinese companies, including a $1.5 billion deal with Power China,…