Saudi Arabia and China sign deals worth $3.7bn to boost agriculture

• 57 agreements worth SAR14 billion
• 26 agricultural export agreements
• Saudi target food security

Saudi Arabia and China have signed 57 agreements worth SAR14 billion ($3.7 billion) to strengthen their trade relations, focusing mainly on the agriculture sector.

The two nations signed 31 agreements in the field of greenhouses, livestock, poultry and fisheries during the Saudi-Chinese Business Forum, the ministry of environment, water and agriculture said in a post on social messaging platform X.

A total of 26 agreements were signed in relation to Saudi agricultural exports to the Chinese market, the ministry said.

The Saudi government is stepping up efforts to attract investors to its agriculture sector after identifying a funding gap of SAR37 billion.

With the kingdom importing 80 percent of its food, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture says there are investment opportunities in plant and animal production, as well as fisheries, processing, manufacture of agricultural products and infrastructure development.

Bilateral trade reached $107 billion in 2024, with China’s exports at $50 billion and imports at $57 billion, Global Times newspaper reported, citing official data.

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There is high potential for cooperation in infrastructure construction, agricultural product production and processing, smart agriculture, green planting and breeding, the newspaper reported, quoting Zhang Jianwei, party secretary of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Beijing. 

“It’s no secret that Saudi Arabia and China have become major economic partners in recent years,” Jonathan Fulton, an associate professor of political science at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, wrote in his column for AGBI.

The Middle East as a whole was the top recipient of construction and investment deals under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2024, with the total value reaching $39 billion. 

Saudi Arabia and construction topped the list, according to a report by Griffith Asia Institute, based in Queensland, Australia.

Saudi Arabia accounted for the biggest chunk of those deals, or $19 billion, more than triple the number for 2023 of $5.9 billion. Riyadh’s subway contract accounted for nearly a third of that, or $5.6 billion.