Five months after his frosty fist-bump with President Joe Biden, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is rolling out the red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday evening for a three-day trip underscoring Beijing’s growing role in the Persian Gulf. 

Xi, who last visited Saudi Arabia in 2016, will take part in summits with the leaders of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council and other Arab states, where the Chinese delegation is expected to sign a flurry of deals.

The visit comes as relations between Washington and Riyadh are in disarray following the OPEC+ decision in October to slash oil production by 2 million barrels per day, despite US warnings that the cuts would benefit Russia. 

A fuming Biden administration vowed to re-evaluate the decades-long US partnership with Saudi Arabia, already strained over the kingdom’s rights record, military campaign in Yemen and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Congressional Democrats responded to the OPEC+ cuts with calls to restrict arms sales and security cooperation with Riyadh.