When it was announced in 2023 that the African Union would become a full member of the G20, I darkly joked on a podcast that the AU’s entry into the body could very well mark the moment the G20 lost its status as one of the most important global coordination forums. Mark my words, I said, soon The Economist will be like “Uhhh, the G20 is OVER – it’s the ...
Category: China-Middle East
Talks in Iran Highlight Security Challenges with Afghanistan
Representatives from China joined counterparts from several Central and South Asian countries in Tehran to map new approaches to Afghanistan. However, the Afghan delegation did not attend. In addition to the host Iran, the talks included Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and ...
China Pushes Gulf Cooperation Council to Conclude Free Trade Agreement
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on the Gulf Cooperation Council to conclude a free trade agreement that has been in discussion for decades. Wang’s meeting with Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, on Sunday in Riyadh, ...
China and Jordan Discuss Closer Ties
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with King Abdullah II of Jordan on Monday, the conclusion of his trip to the Middle East. He also met with Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. The conversations focused on boosting economic cooperation, channeling more ...
China’s Foreign Minister Courts Gulf Leaders Amid Regional Realignments
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday in Riyadh, where the two discussed bolstering the Kingdom's ties with Iran. In 2023, China helped to broker a reconciliation between the two rivals after a ...
China’s Top Diplomat to Visit Middle East This Week
China's top diplomat Wang Yi will begin a tour of the Middle East on Friday for bilateral talks in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Beijing said Thursday. Wang will visit from 12 to 16 December for talks with ...
China, Iran, Saudi Arabia Reiterate Cooperation, But Barriers Remain
Officials from China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia convened in Tehran for trilateral talks on Tuesday. It was the third meeting of their trilateral committee following China’s brokering of a historical Iran-Saudi detente in 2023. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi, ...
Mediterranean Anxieties Over the Sino-Moroccan Rapprochement: French, Algerian, and Tunisian Media Perspectives
By Bianca Pasquier On October 31, 2025, China abstained from the United Nations Security Council vote endorsing Morocco’s “Western Sahara Autonomy Proposal” for resolving the conflict between Rabat and the Polisario Front. Two days prior, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly ...
Riyadh and Beijing Push Ahead With Tech Cooperation as Saudi Firms Distance From Huawei
Saudi Arabia and China are moving to deepen their already sizeable cooperation across a range of advanced technologies. The kingdom’s National Industrial Development Center held a meeting on Wednesday with a delegation comprising leaders of 30 leading Chinese companies. Led by ...
New Insights Emerge About Iran’s Secretive (and Very Lucrative) Trade With China
It's been an open secret for years that China and Iran figured out some very creative ways to circumvent international sanctions to conduct billions of dollars in trade every year. Until now, though, it just wasn't clear how they did it. ...
Iran Recalls European Ambassadors After Failure of China-Led UN Vote
Iran recalled its ambassadors to the UK, Germany, and France, following the defeat of a China-led draft resolution in the UN Security Council to prevent the reimposition of sanctions against the country. China and Russia pushed the delay in the ...
Iranian Experts Debate the Future of the Iran-China Relationship After the Twelve-Day War
By Theo Nencini and Veronica Turrini The Israel–Iran conflict of June 13–24, 2025 – christened the “Twelve-Day War” by U.S. President Donald Trump following his precariously brokered truce – represented the culmination of a protracted, multidimensional, and steadily escalating confrontation between Tel Aviv ...
Spike in Chinese Oil Imports from Indonesia Sparks Iran Rumors
A surge in oil imports from Indonesia to China over the last two months has sparked allegations that China may be importing sanctioned Iranian oil via the Southeast Asian country. Since July, China has imported 2.7 million tons of crude oil ...