The meeting of the fourth session of the Sub-Committee for Trade and Investment, emanating from the Saudi-Chinese High-Level Joint Committee, was held virtually yesterday. The meeting was co-chaired by Minister of Investment Eng. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, and Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao. The meeting also was attended by Saudi ambassador to China Abdurrahman Al-Harbi and the representatives of the governmental institutions from the two sides. During the meeting, they reviewed the levels of growth witnessed by bilateral trade, and the volume of the commercial partnership between the two countries. The two sides also discussed the good outcomes achieved by joint projects as well as remarkable contributions to promoting development. They discussed investment opportunities and ways of consolidating cooperation between the two countries. The meeting reviewed the most prominent economic developments between the two countries, as the People's Republic of China is the main partner of the Kingdom in commodity trade. The Kingdom's exports to China, in the second quarter of 2022, amounted to SAR63 billion (about USD16.8 billion), which makes China as the main destination for the Saudi exports. The Kingdom has topped the list of oil suppliers to China, since the beginning of the year so far, with the total quantities supplied by the Kingdom to China amounting to 49.84 million tons. In addition, the Kingdom is the largest partner for Chinese investments within the Belt and Road Initiative during the first half of 2022, with investments amounting to SAR20.6 billion (USD5.5 billion), or approximately SAR3.5 billion (about USD one billion) per month. The two sides highlighted the trade relations between the two countries, and expressed their satisfaction with what they have reached, as the value of the Kingdom's exports to China, during 2021, exceeded about SAR190.9 billion (USD50.9 billion), which constituted 18.4% of the total Saudi exports in that year. The Kingdom's exports to China, during the second quarter of 2022, amounted to SAR63.4 billion (USD16.9 billion), while the value of the Kingdom's imports from China, during the second quarter of 2022, amounted to SAR33.75 billion (USD9 billion).
