President Xi Jinping strengthened ties between China and Saudi Arabia, securing wide-ranging deals covering energy, industrial capacity cooperation, telecommunications, aviation, and the Belt and Road Initiative. The two countries agreed to form a comprehensive strategic partnership and boost their joint development strategies. Annual trade between the nations reached USD69.1 billion in 2014, about 230 times the figure in 1990, the year that diplomatic ties between Beijing and Riyadh were established. Saudi Arabia is China’s largest crude oil supplier and largest trade partner in the West Asia and North Africa region. China is also among Saudi Arabia’s top trading partners. China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have agreed to accelerate talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) and hold the next round of negotiations in the second half of February. China and the GCC announced the start of free trade talks in July 2004, but the process was suspended in 2009.

During President Xi’s visit to Egypt, a Chinese trade delegation led by Ministry of Commerce officials signed 12 agreements with Egyptian companies valued at USD60.4 million. The expansion of the China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, one of China’s premier overseas investment zones, will soon begin. The project is worth USD230 million. Xi held talks with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and addressed the Cairo-based Arab League. China and Egypt have agreed to undertake 15 projects, mainly in electricity, transport and infrastructure, with a total investment of USD15 billion. Agreements also include a USD1 billion financing deal for Egypt’s central bank and a USD700 million loan to state-owned National Bank of Egypt. said that China is willing to participate in Egypt’s key projects like the development of the Suez Canal Corridor and the construction of a new administrative capital. He also invited al-Sisi to attend the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in September.

President Xi visited Iran, just days after the lifting of international sanctions, trying to secure “early bird” advantages ahead of Western competitors. Bilateral trade reached a record USD52 billion in 2014, and China has also been the number one buyer of Iranian crude oil since 2011. Pang Sen, Chinese Ambassador to Iran, said Iran was key to Xi’s “One Belt, One Road” development plan. Xi oversaw the signing of 17 agreements in areas including politics, economy, security and peaceful nuclear energy, with Iran’s President Hassan Rowhani. China and Iran agreed to expand bilateral ties and increase trade to USD600 billion in the next 10 years. China will also cooperate in building a rapid train system between Tehran and Mashhad, and help finance the project.