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[text/observer.com xiong chaoran] "senior saudi arabian industrial officials began visiting east asia this week, seeking cooperation with chinese companies in the automotive and automation sectors."

the hong kong-based south china morning post reported on september 1 that according to a statement issued by the office of saudi minister of industry and mineral resources bandar alkhorayef, he will lead a delegation to visit the chinese cities of guangzhou and hong kong, as well as singapore from september 1 to september 8. the purpose of this visit is to enhance relations between saudi arabia and china and explore joint venture opportunities.

the report said that china and saudi arabia have strengthened their relations in recent years, "compared to the united states." currently, saudi arabia is seeking to diversify its economy and become an industrial center in the middle east; and as china faces increasing suppression and hunting by the united states, the middle east is becoming more and more attractive to chinese companies that want to expand overseas markets.

"the delegation's visit to china is in line with (saudi arabia's) goal to become an important automotive hub in the region and a leader in innovative and environmentally friendly automotive solutions." according to hulayev's office, the automotive industry is a focus of saudi arabia's national industrial strategy, which emphasizes developing the automotive industry and combining it with innovative technologies.

key meetings during the visit to guangzhou will include talks with major chinese electric car maker gac group, lithium battery maker ronghui lithium and communications technology giant huawei, the statement said, adding that the talks with huawei will discuss opportunities for cooperation on "innovative smart solutions" involving technologies of the "fourth industrial revolution", including artificial intelligence, robotics and the internet of things.

“saudi arabia aims to attract high-quality investments in 12 promising industrial sectors, including automotive, pharmaceuticals and food, while creating an incentive investment environment,” the statement read. “the visit is expected to foster a partnership focused on high-quality investments, sustainable development and economic diversification, especially in strategic industrial sectors.”

as we all know, the oil industry is the mainstay of saudi arabia's economy. in recent years, saudi arabia has actively promoted economic diversification to get rid of its dependence on the oil industry. since 2016, it has proposed the "vision 2030" and a series of major development plans and initiatives. saudi arabia is also the only arab country in the group of twenty (g20).

according to the saudi ministry of industry and mineral resources, china is saudi arabia's largest trading partner, with trade exceeding $100 billion in 2023. the data also showed that of china's investment in saudi arabia last year, $5.6 billion was used for original equipment manufacturing in the automotive industry, $5.26 billion was used in the mining industry, and $4.26 billion was invested in semiconductors.

according to chinese data, from january to july this year, china's total exports to saudi arabia amounted to $27.55 billion, up nearly 12% from the same period last year. at the same time, china's total imports from saudi arabia fell 7.3% from the same period last year to $34.97 billion.

the south china morning post mentioned that while china is actively developing green energy industries such as electric vehicles, the united states and the european union have frequently "thrown dirty water" and hyped up the so-called "overcapacity theory" in an attempt to hinder china's development.

in may this year, us president biden announced that the "section 301" tariffs imposed on china during the trump administration would be maintained, while tariffs on china's "targeted strategic products" would be significantly increased. among them, the tariffs on chinese electric vehicles would be tripled to 100%, the tariffs on semiconductors and solar cells would be doubled to 50%, and a new tariff of 25% would be imposed on other strategic products such as lithium batteries and steel.

in addition, on june 12, local time, the european commission announced that it would impose an additional tariff of up to 38.1% on electric vehicles imported from china. on july 4, local time, the european commission released a 208-page document, announcing that it had decided to impose temporary anti-subsidy duties on electric vehicles imported from china from july 5, for a maximum period of 4 months. during this period, eu member states will vote to decide on the final anti-subsidy measures. if passed, the eu will officially impose anti-subsidy duties on chinese electric vehicles for a period of 5 years.

in march this year, chinese foreign ministry spokesman lin jian pointed out: "electric vehicles are a globalized industry. only division of labor and cooperation can lead to mutual benefit and win-win results, and only fair competition can lead to technological progress." lin jian said that engaging in protectionism and trade barriers in the name of "fair competition" and "national security" violates the principles of market economy and wto rules. it seems to be an advantage in the short term, but what is protected is backwardness, what is lost is the future, and it will result in multiple losses. in the long run, it will only harm the interests of domestic industries and consumers and affect the green transformation of the global economy and efforts to respond to climate change.

"the popularity of chinese electric vehicles is due to their technological innovation and excellent quality formed in the global market competition, not subsidies. at the same time, china has completely abolished restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector and has always opened its doors to global auto companies, allowing automakers from all over the world to fully enjoy the dividends of the large chinese market."

lin jian stressed that economic globalization is an irresistible trend, protectionism is absolutely unacceptable, and the abuse of trade remedy measures violates international economic and trade rules. only by upholding mutually beneficial cooperation can we make the pie bigger, and only by transcending zero-sum games can we achieve a win-win situation. "we hope that relevant parties will listen carefully to the rational voices of the industry, abide by the rules of the wto, respect the laws of the market economy, stop politicizing, securitizing, and ideologizing economic and trade issues, and provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory environment for investment and operation of enterprises from all countries, including chinese enterprises."

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