Saudi Arabia to host inaugural Chinese-Arab summit in December

The milestone summit is set to involve face-to-face exchanges between Chinese and Arab leaders with the possibility of attendance by President Xi Jinping.

China and Arab nations will hold a milestone summit in Saudi Arabia early next month, setting up the possibility of Chinese President Xi Jinping visiting the kingdom for the first time in seven years.

Li Xuhang, China’s consul-general in Dubai, said the gathering would happen in early December, according to a statement posted on the consulate’s website on Tuesday.

Jinping is expected to visit Saudi Arabia that same month, according to Riyadh's foreign minister, but the consul statement did not specify whether the trip will coincide with the summit.

The envoy told an Emirati newspaper that the summit would involve face-to-face exchanges between leaders from China and Arab nations, according to a separate Foreign Ministry statement dated November 4.

The summit comes in the backdrop of Riyadh and other Gulf countries shoring up links with Asian markets amid strained ties between Saudi Arabia and its long-standing ally, the United States, after the OPEC+ cartel slashed oil production, ignoring pleas from Washington.