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Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was one of at least a dozen heads of state to do a brief meet-and-greet with Xi Jinping during the China-Arab summit in Saudi Arabia on Friday.

The interaction was wholly unremarkable, but the fact that Xi would even choose to meet with Mohamud and publish a photo is important, given that Somalia twice this year has aligned itself with China's critics on the extremely sensitive issue of human rights in Xinjiang.

Back in October, Somalia became one of the first Muslim-majority/African countries to vote in support of a motion at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to debate a council report on the human rights situation in Xinjiang.

Then, just a couple of weeks later, Mogadishu signed a Canadian-led joint statement that expressed "grave concern" about human rights conditions for the Uyghur Muslim-minority population.

What's more remarkable is that those two controversial motions on Xinjiang took place just a few weeks before Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Somali counterpart Abshir Omar Huruse on the sidelines of September's UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

Between the Wang meeting and the Xi handshake, Chinese officials have not commented publicly about Somalia's positions on Xinjiang, potentially signaling to other small developing countries that it is, in fact, possible to oppose China on sensitive "core interests" without suffering retribution.

It's rare for the U.S. and China to host major regional summits less than a week apart.

But with the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit set to get underway in Washington, D.C., just a few days after the China-Arab Summit concluded in Riyadh, observers of diplomatic protocol will get a clear view of the different approaches the Presidents of these powers adopt in these kinds of fora.

🇨🇳 STRONG BUT HUMBLE: In summits among developing countries, the Chinese president is positioned as a formidable figure, exemplified by Xi's choreographed airport arrival in Saudi Arabia that included honor guards riding alongside the presidential limo on horseback. Also, other leaders must accommodate Xi by standing to his right, so the Chinese President doesn't have to be seen reaching across to shake hands.

But at the same time, Xi also ensures that a photo is taken with every leader in attendance, no matter how small or politically insignificant the country is to China. His advance team will also schedule bilateral meetings with a much wider range of states, not just the largest or most powerful, in an effort to convey a sense of "developing world camaraderie."

🇺🇸 THE LEADER WHO LISTENS: President Joe Biden doesn't have any bilateral meetings with African leaders on the schedule, nor will we likely see the Xi-style reel of handshake photos. Instead, the image of Biden will likely be that of the leader of the free world (yes, many Americans still use this phrase) intently engaged in discussion with his African counterparts.

The White House will also be keen to contrast Biden's style with that of his predecessor, who was never seen to be listening to the concerns of other countries, especially those in Africa, and that of Xi, who comes off as a bit, well, "imperial." Instead, watch for Biden to be positioned as the U.S. leader who listens.

Senior African policy officials in the White House and State Department have been adamant that this week's African leaders summit is about Africa... not China. But the international news media doesn't appear to see it that way -- framing the story as the latest installment of the escalating competition between the two rival powers:

• SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: "At first US-Africa summit in years, China and its inroads on the continent expected to cast long shadow"
• AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE: Biden tries to reboot US brand in Africa amid China, Russia inroads
• FOREIGN POLICY: Biden’s Big Africa Summit Carefully Sidesteps China

The administration's difficulties in evolving its narrative on Africa policy to be more than just about competition with China was on full display at two separate pre-summit press briefings in recent days, one organized by the White House and the other by Pentagon. On both occasions, the literal first question posed to the policymakers was about China, not Africa:

• THE WHITE HOUSE: Background Press Call on the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit
• THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: Senior Defense Official Holds Background Briefing Ahead of U.S.-Africa Leaders' Summit

Arab media showed optimism toward the China Arab Summit which kicks off Friday in Saudi Arabia. Only a few hours before its kick-off, Arab media says the summit reflects the “strong position” that Arab countries hold within the new global system.

Director of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Dr. Mohammed Fayez Farahat, told the Sada Al-Balad TV channel and website that the summit carries great importance in terms of timing as it comes as part of a “new world order” that highlights the importance of the Arab region, after the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Farahat also mentions that the Arab region is moving towards a new global system that is no longer built on multipolarity but rather on multilateral relations. 

Sada al-Balad website also quotes political expert Ahmed Sayed Khabir as saying that the Chinese presence in the Arab region is part of the international competition over the Middle East and Gulf area, which is a major provider of energy. He explains that China is now in an “economic recovery” phase and realizes the region's importance as “an attractive market for Chinese investments.”

In his column published by the Egyptian Al-Masry al-Yowm website, writer Abdel-Latif al-Manawi says that China “needs Arab countries as much as they need it.” Al-Menawi explains that the summit would provide mutual benefits for both parties. “As the largest importer of crude oil in the world, Arab countries provide half of its imports, accounting for 17.4% of the country’s total oil imports in 2021. There’s also no doubt that Arab countries need China too, which is their largest trading partner,” he says.

Dar al-Hilal website highlighted the optimism of the Director of the Arab Center for Political Studies, Dr. Mohammed Sadiq Ismail, over the summit. Ismail says the summit would “change the world’s view of Arab countries” as it shows that the region’s relations with major powers are now based on “mutual strategic partnership.”

Chinese and Saudi Arabian officials will sign $29.62 billion worth of commercial deals this week during President Xi Jinping's three-day visit to the Kingdom.

In all, some 20 agreements will be inked, according to a report published on Tuesday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

BOTTOM LINE: While the value of these deals does sound impressive, it's worth noting that Chinese officials often like to boost these kinds of announcements by re-packaging contracts that have already been closed and include MOUs that frequently fail to materialize.

Therefore, the actual value of these "deal announcements" often ends up being much less than what state-run media outlets reported.

SUGGESTED READING:

• Alarabiya News: Agreements worth $29 billion to be signed during China’s Xi visit to Saudi Arabia
• Reuters: Deals worth more than $29.3 bln to be signed during Saudi-China summit - SPA

The obvious reason for Xi Jinping's trip to Saudi Arabia is to foster closer ties with one of China's largest oil suppliers (Russia and Saudi Arabia have been battling for the top spot for much of the past year), but that alone would overlook the increasingly dynamic economic relationship that's emerging between these two countries.

Deeper Chinese economic engagement in the Saudi technology, arms manufacturing and automotive sectors are all bolstering the Kingdom's status as China's largest trading partner in the Middle East and North Africa.

Two-way trade last year, predominantly oil, topped $87 billion, nearly three times as much as Saudi Arabia traded with the United States.

China-Saudi Arabia Trade by the Numbers:

• OIL: Saudi Arabian oil last year accounted for 17.4% of China’s total crude imports, worth $35.5 billion.

• NON-OIL: With a 16.4% share, China is the top destination for Saudi Arabian non-oil exports.

• IMPORTS: Last year, Saudi Arabia bought $30.32 billion worth of Chinese goods, making China the Kingdom's largest importer.  

• EXPORTS: Saudi Arabia exported $10.96 billion worth of non-oil products to China last year, mostly organic chemicals ($5.15b), plastics ($3.1b) and mineral fuels ($1.36b).

SUGGESTED READING:

• Bloomberg: Xi Jinping Gets Saudi Red Carpet as Middle East Looks Past US by Ben Bartenstein and Sylvia Westall
• Arab News: Arab-China economic ties in focus as President Xi Jinping begins Saudi Arabia visit

Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Jonathan Fulton has some advice for journalists covering Xi Jinping's visit to Saudi Arabia: don't fall for the simple narrative that this trip is about some kind of Great Power Competition with the United States.

Instead, Fulton recommends looking at the meetings and summits that will take place this week from the perspective of the various Arab countries that are keen to diversify their international relations beyond reliance on the U.S. and Europe.

"Most of the world doesn’t see great power competition everywhere," he said in an interview with Middle East scholar Marc Lynch.

Jonathan Fulton on What Arab Countries and China Want From Each Other:

• WHAT DO ARAB COUNTRIES WANT FROM CHINA?: "I think a lot of people in the Gulf see that the U.S. remains their primary partner in almost every realm but China’s really important too. I think what you see countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE saying is that, look, we want to work with the U.S. on all the important stuff and that isn’t going to change, but Washington needs to understand that China is important to us too and the stuff we do with China doesn’t necessarily compete with or overlap with the U.S. in the way Washington does."

• WHAT DOES CHINA WANT FROM THE ARAB WORLD?: "The main thing China wants from the Middle East is stability, the status quo. The Middle East is important to them but not that important, right? It’s not in that core interest basket. They just want it to not fall to pieces, make money through contracts, keep the energy flowing."

Read the full interview on the Abu Aardvark MENA Academy Substack.

Now that China is beginning to relax its draconian Zero COVID policies and President Xi Jinping has emerged from three years of diplomatic hibernation, Ryan Hass, a top China scholar at the Brookings Institution, reflected in a multipart Twitter thread on Tuesday on the choices ahead for Xi in terms of the future direction of Chinese foreign policy.

This five-part thread has been lightly edited for clarity:

I'm unpersuaded that Beijing is launching any charm offensive. It is not altering policy positions or increasing incentives to others. Xi is returning to the world stage after several years at home for COVID control and consolidation of power. 

China's leaders are looking for opportunities to strengthen their position in competition with U.S. and others. They would like key countries to respect their "core interests" and refrain from joining coalitional efforts to challenge China's rise.

China's leaders are looking to make up lost ground on the world stage from the past several years of inward focus. They will seek to tilt relations in the Middle East in their direction, consolidate influence in the developing world, and pull the EU toward equidistance between the U.S. and the PRC.

[They will also want to] ensure the EU doesn't solidify bloc-wide policy positions that challenge China...Beijing also will work on countries such as India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Netherlands, and ROK. They want to create more separation between those countries and U.S.

After grossly underperforming on its diplomatic potential in recent years, a key question will be whether China can course correct or whether Beijing doubles down on tit-for-tat actions and demands of obedience to China's priorities and concerns.

Read the full thread on Ryan Hass's Twitter page.

Arab and regional press widely focused on the China-Arab summit scheduled this week in Saudi Arabia, highlighting its importance as a “turning point in the history of Sino-Arab relations.”

Several writers shared their thoughts about the significance of the summit, saying that it supports the participants’ attempts to diversify their partnerships and to form new political alliances.

Here is an overview of the most important points discussed by Arab/regional press:

Multipolarity and Diversification of Partnerships:

Arab newspapers have indicated the desire of Saudi Arabia, its Gulf allies, and China to diversify partnerships to serve their economic and security interests.

In his article on the Egyptian Al-Ahram newspaper website, Dr. Ahmed El-Sayed Ahmed sheds light on the significance of the US-Chinese competition over the Middle East and Gulf region, explaining that countries of the region handle this conflict by adopting a rational foreign policy aimed at providing multiple sources of income, economic and armament deals. In his article, he explains: “This international competition in the region reflects the importance and rationality of the foreign policy adopted by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, as they adopt a neutral stance aimed at enriching their economic and strategic partnerships with the world’s top powers, without siding with one country against another, but rather benefiting from cooperating with all parties.” 

On the Al-Riyadh newspaper website, writer Khalid bin-Ali Al-Matrafi says that Arab countries value Chinese diplomacy that creates partnerships based on “power and friendship.” Al-Matrafi explains that China’s public policy serves the Arab interest in building a multilateral global community. He adds that besides China’s growing need for energy, Sino-Arab relations are being built through realizing common human values and the desire to secure mutual interests.

Forming Political and Economic Alliances:

In its coverage of the summit, the regional press also highlighted the importance of forming strong alliances between China and Arab countries in line with such difficult global developments. Shaher Al-Shaher echoes this sentiment in his article on the Al-Mayadeen website, saying that the Chinese president’s visit to Saudi Arabia is not only expected to have remarkable outcomes in terms of economic relations but also would increase China’s involvement in a number of security-related issues in the region. He explains: “Beijing can play an important role because it’s the one country that everybody likes.”

Shaher also says: “Beijing is not keen on getting involved in political issues. However, it is now forced to do so to protect its economic and commercial interests in the region, which will remain in danger if there’s no political or military umbrella to protect them.” “At some point, China will have to stop thinking like a trader whose only goal is to find a customer and to start creating real partnerships in the fields of tourism, culture, economics, science, medicine, technology and others,” he added.

On the Egyptian website Al-Masry al-Youm, writer Mohammed Kamal said in his column that Sino-Arab relations stem from mutual economic interests. He explains: “In light of the drop in importance and volume of Arab oil exports to the US market, China became the top importer of oil. It has also become a major investor and trading partner for many Arab countries, which in return have become part of the Chinese “Belt and Road” initiative.

Meanwhile, the Anadolu Agency stressed the importance of forming Chinese-Arab political alliances, explaining that China “wants to make sure it has the support of Arabs during any future conflict with the United States over Taiwan. It also hopes that Arab countries would turn a blind eye to what is happening to the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang in exchange for more investments and loans.”

The top U.S. trade official, Katherine Tai, acknowledged that Washington is increasingly facing difficulties in Africa and other regions because China, not the U.S., is most countries' largest trading partner.

During a conversation with The Atlantic Council's Rama Yade, Tai also downplayed competition with China in Africa as the primary motivation for why Washington should be more engaged:

China has been playing a very aggressive game all over the world. I can't tell you how many conversations I have had with really important, longstanding allies and trading partners who tell me "you're incredibly important to us but at this point our largest trading partner and our largest trading relationship is China." 

That is a fact that we are encountering all over the world...

Do we need to be, as the United States, playing a much more engaged role with the rest of the world? Do we need to be innovating in how we bring our political and economic philosophy and values to creating that economic inter-operability, creating the types of opportunities that we value so much here and that we would like to see around the world... uhh... yes, absolutely. 

But is that the driving force for why we should be interested in Africa? Absolutely not. There are one million reasons why the U.S.-Africa relationship on its own requires our maximum attention. 

FOOTNOTE: China did more trade with Africa in the first quarter of 2022 ($54.8 billion) than the United States did all last year ($58.4 billion)

Watch the full video clip on The Atlantic Council's YouTube channel.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari led a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Chinese-financed headquarters of the West African regional organization ECOWAS.

The new $32 million facility will be entirely paid for by the Chinese government and mostly built by Chinese contractors. Sunday's event comes one week after Zimbabwe's new parliament building opened, also wholly paid for by China. 

There are at least 186 government buildings in Africa, including the African Union and the African Centers for Disease Control headquarters in Addis Ababa, that have been paid for by China, according to research by Heritage Foundation analyst Joshua Meservey. (CHANNELSTV)

Saudi Arabia will mark Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit from 7 to 9 December with a China-Arab summit, according to Saudi diplomats. Invitations to Middle Eastern and North African leaders have reportedly already gone out. The summit will come at a delicate moment in U.S.-Saudi relations, which is increasingly affected by China’s growing prominence in the region. (REUTERS)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is under attack from opposition parties for being too soft on China following his recent handshake with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Bali. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar clapped back at those critics on Friday when he said the administration has been "very firm" with Beijing as evidenced by New Delhi's robust troop deployments along the disputed border in the Himalayas. (INDIAN EXPRESS)

Mongolian President Khnaa Khurelsukh wrapped up a two-day state visit to China on Monday where he held talks with both President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang.  The visit highlights the priority that Xi is now putting on ties with China's neighbors following his recent trips to Central and Southeast Asia. Mongolia is also a key Chinese supplier of coal, copper, and gold. (GLOBAL TIMES)

Chinese telecom giant Huawei launched its newest 5G network in Africa, this time in Zambia. Huawei equipment will power MTN's new mobile network that began service late last week. The 5G debut in Zambia follows similar launches in Kenya and South Africa earlier this year that also use Huawei's networking gear.(CHINA DAILY)

Zhang Jun, China’s envoy to the UN, expressed concern about the deteriorating security situation in the Palestinian territories and called on the international community to weigh Israeli and Palestinian security equally and to support a bilateral dialogue. "We call on Israel to ease restrictions on the movement of people and humanitarian, reconstruction materials into and out of the Gaza Strip, to lift the blockade on Gaza as soon as possible, and to effectively create conditions for the development of Palestinian communities in the West Bank," Zhang said. (XINHUA)

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh of Mongolia in Beijing on Monday. Their discussions covered progress on a China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor and a China-Russia gas pipeline that will run through Mongolian territory. They also signed declarations to work together on trade, investment, and customs, as well as on anti-desertification initiatives. (CHINESE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS)

Chinese lithium salts producer Yahua Industrial Group said it will spend $145 million to acquire buy a majority stake in two Hong Kong units of China Africa Industrial that own a 70% stake in four lithium mines in Namibia. The company has been on a quest to secure more lithium assets. The Namibian move comes as an earlier attempt to buy Canada’s Ultra Lithium fell apart partly due to pressure from the Canadian government. (YICAI)

U.S. and Indian army forces on Tuesday held high-altitude training exercises in the Himalayas near India's disputed border with China. The annual “Yudh Abhyas” exercises took place just 100 kilometers from the contested border region known as the Line of Actual control. The joint exercises reflect increasingly close security ties between the U.S. and India and their shared ambition to challenge Chinese influence in the Asia-Pacific region. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Slumping Chinese oil demand is prompting Saudi Arabia, China's largest supplier, to consider a $2 per-barrel price cut for January shipments. "The lower demand in China as a result of the widening COVID-19 curbs, and the prospect of increasing Russian oil flowing into Asia soured market sentiment," said one trader surveyed by Reuters. The price cut would push the January 2023 price of Saudi oil to a 10-month low. (REUTERS)

Chinese steel giant Tsingshan is expanding its already formidable presence in Zimbabwe with a new lithium mining and processing venture.  Company Chairman Xiang Guangda and President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the deal on Tuesday in Harare. Tsingshan is building a $1 billion steel plant (Africa's largest) and already has extensive coal and smelting operations in Zimbabwe. (REUTERS)

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Thongloun Sisoulith, the president of Laos on Wednesday. Sisoulith is also the general secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, and the visit was dominated by the rituals of party-party diplomacy in the wake of the death of former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin. They also discussed closer coordination on security and policing issues, and enhancing trade and investment ties. (XINHUA)

Chinese electric-vehicle maker BYD has announced it will launch its cars in Mexico next year, with a senior executive pegging its sales target at up to 30,000 vehicles in 2024. BYD will begin selling fully electric versions of its Tang sport utility vehicle alongside its Han sedan through eight dealers across Mexico, according to the company’s country head Zhou Zou. (AL JAZEERA)