Saudi Arabia deepens China industrial partnership
Saudi Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Bandar Alkhorayef is leading a five-day mission to China this week, advancing cooperation on industrial manufacturing and critical minerals as Riyadh pursues its Vision 2030 goals.
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This week, Saudi Arabia sent its industry minister to China for a five-day visit focused on industrial and mining ties; Kuwait and France deepened their military partnership with the “Swift Falcon” air drill; and Abu Dhabi launched the region’s first joint AI lab with Nvidia.
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Leading this week
Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef visits the headquarters of China’s ZGC Group, Sept. 22, 2025. (Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources)
Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef is leading a five-day mission to China from Sept. 22 to 26, which Riyadh describes as a major step toward expanding cooperation in industrial manufacturing and critical minerals. The visit includes meetings in Beijing with senior officials and in Shanghai with leading firms such as BOE Technology (electronics), Gotion Hi-Tech (EV batteries) and China Minmetals (mining and metals), according to the official Saudi Press Agency. In Shanghai, the delegation will also attend the Industrial Automation Show as part of Saudi Arabia’s preparations to host Hannover Messe’s Riyadh edition in December.
The trip follows last month’s visit by Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih as part of the Saudi-Chinese High-Level Joint Committee. It builds on a series of recent bilateral milestones, from the 2023 Saudi-Chinese Investment Forum — which generated over 60 memorandums of understanding across energy, tourism and technology — and the 2024 China-Gulf Cooperation Council Forum on Industrial and Investment Cooperation.
Why it matters: The visit underscores Riyadh’s commitment to positioning industrial and mining partnerships at the heart of its Vision 2030 diversification strategy. As Jack Dutton explains, mining licenses in Saudi Arabia jumped 144% in the first half of 2025, part of a drive to attract $100 billion in investment by the end of the decade.
In this framework, Alkhorayef’s focus on critical minerals is notable. Lithium, copper and nickel — metals essential for batteries and clean energy — now sit at the core of this Saudi push, and China’s dominance in global supply chains makes it a natural partner. This alignment would draw Riyadh deeper into Beijing’s industrial ecosystem, just as Chinese firms eye Riyadh as a hub for global expansion.
By the numbers: China is already Saudi Arabia’s top trading partner, with bilateral trade topping $107.5 billion in 2024. Nearly a quarter of the kingdom’s crude exports — 24.3% — went to China in early 2025, cementing Riyadh’s reliability as Beijing recalibrates oil imports from Iran and Russia.
Yet the relationship is no longer only about hydrocarbons. As Rosaleen Carroll reports, Chinese foreign direct investments in the kingdom rose 28.8% to $8.2 billion in 2024, while inflows more than doubled to $2.3 billion. Investments now span manufacturing, finance, construction and health care, with projects ranging from Wangkang Group’s building materials facility in Yanbu — which supplies the kingdom’s booming construction sector — to Pan Asia Industrial’s $4 billion petrochemical and polyester complex in Jubail, which is designed to anchor Saudi Arabia’s downstream manufacturing base.
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