In recent years, under the common concern of President Xi Jinping and King Salman, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative and Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030" have been deeply connected. . After 6 years, President Xi Jinping paid another state visit to Saudi Arabia, which will definitely lead the friendly cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia to a new level, promote the in-depth development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, and continue to achieve new results.
Mutual benefit, deepen energy cooperation
In the early morning, inside the Zhongsha Yanbu Refinery located in the city of Yanbu on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, huge oil storage tanks, neat oil pipelines and row upon row of towers are bathed in the morning sun. Amidst the roar of the machine, 32-year-old Hussain was wearing overalls and a safety helmet, carefully checking the operation of key valves, pipelines and equipment.
Yanbu Refinery covers an area of about 5.2 million square meters. It is a joint venture between Sinopec and Saudi Aramco, with a total investment of more than 8 billion US dollars. It is China's largest investment project in Saudi Arabia. On January 20, 2016, President Xi Jinping and King Salman jointly attended the launching ceremony of the Zhongsha Yanbu Refinery. President Xi Jinping pointed out that the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia in the energy field has brought tangible benefits to the two peoples. The Sino-Saudi Yanbu Refinery Project is not only in line with the national development strategy of Saudi Arabia’s economic optimization and upgrading and energy industry upgrading, but also in line with the development ideas of mutually beneficial cooperation between China and countries along the Silk Road within the framework of the “Belt and Road”.
Since it was put into operation, the Yanbu Refinery has been operating well. At present, the actual processing load of the project exceeds the design capacity of 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day, and the products are exported to Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. From January to October this year, the profit generated by the Yanbu Refinery reached the highest level since its commercial operation. Both China and Saudi Arabia have learned from each other's strengths and cooperated with each other in project cooperation. Yanbu Refinery has won international awards in terms of engineering construction quality and operation management. "Chinese companies have very advanced refining technology and experience, and have sent a team of high-level engineers to the refinery, which has contributed to the smooth operation of the project and the improvement of refining technology and efficiency." A Bu, the retired former president of Yanbu Refinery Dullah Subayyar said.
The Yanbu Refinery has not only created considerable economic benefits for Saudi Arabia, but also provided a good development platform for local young people. Recalling the work experience in the past few years, Hussein has a lot of emotion. In 2015, after graduating from university, he came to Yanbu Refinery and became an engineer in the coking plant. This is the first coking unit introduced by Saudi Arabia, and it is not easy to learn. The Chinese engineer taught them all the details of the operation, and Hussein also worked hard to study hard, and the work gradually began to be handy. Now, Hussain has been promoted to supervisor, and has "become very good friends" with the Chinese engineer.
At present, there are more than 1,200 Saudi employees in Yanbu Refinery, accounting for 87% of the total number of employees. Statistics show that since its operation, Yanbu Refinery has directly or indirectly provided more than 6,000 local jobs. The project also cultivated a group of Saudi engineering management talents and skilled workers through training and continuing education, injecting impetus into local economic and social development.
The Sino-Saudi Yanbu Refinery helps Saudi Arabia to transform and upgrade its economy, and benefits local people's livelihood. China is Saudi Arabia's largest trading partner, and Saudi Arabia is an important energy supplier to China and the largest trading partner in West Asia and Africa. The bilateral trade volume between China and Saudi Arabia will reach US$87.31 billion in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 30.1%. Saudi Investment Minister Falih said that under the personal care of the leaders of the two countries, the economic and trade cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China has flourished, mutual investment has continued to grow, and the potential of green and low-carbon cooperation has been accelerated. partner.
Seawater desalination improves people's livelihood and well-being
From the port city of Jeddah in the west of Saudi Arabia all the way to the north, between the blue sea and the golden desert, a huge seawater desalination plant stands majestically. Seawater from the Red Sea enters the water intake pump house through more than 400 meters of water intake pipes in the desalination plant. After a series of technical treatments, it is converted into fresh water, and then flows into thousands of households through water pipelines.
Saudi Arabia has a hot climate and scarce precipitation, and domestic water is extremely precious. The fresh water produced by seawater desalination has become an important supplement to conventional water resources. In March this year, the Phase III seawater project of the Rabigh Project, which was generally contracted by Shandong Power Construction No. 3 Company affiliated to China Power Construction, was completed and put into operation. This is the first large-scale seawater desalination project undertaken by a Chinese company overseas. The project has a daily water output of 600,000 cubic meters and can provide domestic water to more than 2 million households in major cities such as Jeddah and Mecca around Rabigh every day. An important livelihood project in Saudi Arabia.
"Before the completion of the project, there was often an embarrassing situation of no domestic water in my home." Abdullah, a local resident of Rabigh, said that just a few years ago, the shortage of water was still a problem that neighbors often complained about. During peak hours, the flow of tap water is particularly small. When there is no water, people can only go to the supermarket to buy large buckets of water. Now, no matter when the tap is turned on, clear water will always flow out. "Thanks to Chinese companies for letting us stop worrying about water!"
The Saudi youth Mohammad joined the Rabigh project after graduating from university. During his work, he was moved by the sincerity and devotion of the Chinese team. "The Chinese colleagues are very responsible. Whenever they encounter difficulties, they will set up a special technical team to tackle them."
The owner of the project and the president of the Saudi Water Cooperation Company, Khalid Qulaisi, said with emotion: "The Chinese builders are doing a great job!" During the prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the project can still be advanced rapidly, with first-class safety and quality management. It is the benchmark in the construction projects of water cooperation companies.
With the continuous deepening of China-Saudi Arabia cooperation, more and more livelihood projects have been implemented in Saudi Arabia. Haytham Saeed, a scholar at the Saudi Scientific Research and Knowledge Exchange Center, said that China's important initiatives such as the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" and the Global Development Initiative reflect China's determination to promote world development and promote mutual benefit and win-win results for all countries. "I believe that as Saudi Arabia-China relations continue to develop healthily, the cooperation between the two countries will become more exciting."
Dialogue among civilizations, strengthening exchanges and mutual learning
In Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, the courtyard of the National Museum of Saudi Arabia is lined with trees. In the southwest corner of the courtyard, a white two-story building stands quietly. It is named "Sifang Palace" because of its square shape. Here is a good story of China-Saudi Arabia friendship.
On January 20, 2016, President Xi Jinping visited the "Sifang Palace" accompanied by King Salman. "I was honored to accompany King Salman to welcome President Xi Jinping." Abdullah Otaibi, the person in charge of the King Abdulaziz Foundation Memorial Hall and the "Sifang Palace", still clearly remembers the time when President Xi Jinping visited. Every detail: watching Saudi folk performances such as sword dance, tasting Arabic coffee and Arabic specialties, visiting the exhibition hall of the King Abdulaziz Life Memorial Hall...Otaibi recalled that President Xi Jinping smiled and nodded frequently during the visit , to impress him.
In March 2017, King Salman visited China. President Xi Jinping held talks with Salman at the Great Hall of the People. After the talks, the two heads of state jointly attended the closing ceremony of the "Road to Arabia - Exhibition of Unearthed Cultural Relics from Saudi Arabia" held in the National Museum of China. The exhibition exhibited more than 400 pieces (groups) of cultural relics, showing the profound cultural heritage of Saudi Arabia. President Xi Jinping pointed out that this exhibition is an achievement of promoting cultural dialogue and strengthening cultural exchanges and mutual learning between the two sides, and it is also an important manifestation of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Saudi Arabia. President Xi Jinping emphasized that China and Saudi Arabia should create a pattern of people-to-people and cultural exchanges that are lively, diverse, orderly and harmonious, and continue to lay a solid cultural foundation for China-Saudi Arabia cooperation.
China-Saudi Arabia joint archeology, development of Chinese language education, Saudi Chinese Culture Week, China-Saudi Arabia Calligraphy Exchange Cultural Exhibition... In recent years, China-Saudi Arabia cultural exchanges have been steadily advancing.
A few days ago, at the Saudi Wisdom Palace Chinese Academy in Riyadh, a unique experience activity was being held. Young students from various universities in Saudi Arabia and Chinese culture lovers jointly made and tasted Chinese delicacies, and exchanged their experience and perceptions of Chinese culture. Abdulaziz Shabani, an expert on China who participated in the event, said with emotion that more and more Saudi people love Chinese culture and hope to learn Chinese and understand China.
Today, more and more Saudi schools and social institutions are beginning to teach Chinese. The education departments, universities and related institutions of the two countries are also actively cooperating in the compilation of teaching syllabus and teaching materials, and teacher-student exchanges. In January 2020, eight middle schools in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, Eastern and Mecca provinces started Chinese teaching. In 2022, the Saudi Ministry of Education plans to add Chinese courses in 746 schools, and the "Chinese fever" continues to heat up in Saudi Arabia.
Salih Saghri, the former cultural counselor of the Saudi Embassy in China, said: "Civilizational exchanges start with language. Many schools in China have opened Arabic majors, and Saudi Arabia has also included Chinese in the national education system. Young people of the two countries can learn each other's language well. , various exchanges and cooperation can be promoted more smoothly, and the foundation of public opinion on both sides will also be more solid, promoting the continuous development of cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China in various fields."
At present, under the guidance and promotion of the leaders of China and Saudi Arabia, the relationship between China and Saudi Arabia has entered the "fast lane". The political mutual trust between the two sides has continued to deepen, and cooperation in various fields has continued to expand. Friends, good partners, good brothers. In the new historical period, China and Saudi Arabia will work together to carry forward the past and usher in the future, jointly portray the era picture of China-Saudi Arabia friendship, and write a new chapter of mutual benefit and win-win results.