China and Saudi Arabia set to strengthen military ties

Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and China’s Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe discussed defense cooperation last week, exploring ways to strengthen their bilateral military relations and coordination.

They vowed to “jointly oppose hegemonic and bullying practices.”

The Chinese defense minister pledged to push forward “practical cooperation [and] strengthening solidarity” between the two armies.

Satellite images that were published by CNN last month indicate that Saudi Arabia is building its own ballistic missiles with the help of China. The Kingdom is known to possess foreign-made ballistic missiles, including from China, but is not believed to have made its own before.

As the United States scales back its military presence in the region – in particular in the Gulf region – China has been expanding its influence across the Middle East. Earlier this month, foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, along with the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, paid a visit to Beijing. 

In March 2021, China signed a 25-year comprehensive economic and security partnership with Iran. China is expected to invest $400 billion in Iran in exchange for oil and to establish military cooperation through joint training, research, and intelligence sharing.