America First pushes Riyadh and Asia closer

Isolated by the West, Riyadh is trying to show it can still conduct fruitful diplomatic activities. The US' influence in the Middle East has declined in recent years. In fact, Saudi Arabia's dissatisfaction with the US has been brewing since the Barack Obama administration, when Saudi Arabia felt it could not count on the US to safeguard its interests, because the "Arab Spring", in Saudi's eyes, showed the US had failed to protect its allies.

Moreover, US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw US forces from Syria and his "America First" policy has left many US allies in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia surprised and prompted them to turn to the East to make its diplomacy more independent and economy more diversified.
The key areas for cooperation for China and Saudi Arabia include energy. As the international oil market changes from a seller's to a buyer's market, Riyadh needs to secure China's oil import market.

And that Middle East oil exporters such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been paying greater attention to the development of new energy, that is, solar, nuclear and wind energy, provides more room for cooperation. As do China's abundant capital and strong manufacturing sector.

Huang Minxing, a professor at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, Northwest University