Chinese President Xi arrives in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh on three-day visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh on Wednesday for a three-day visit, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The three-day trip is Xi’s third overseas journey since the coronavirus pandemic began, and his first to Saudi Arabia since 2016.

Saudi officials including Prince Faisal bin Bandar, Riyadh’s governor, and Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan welcomed Xi upon his arrival to King Khalid International Airport.

Xi’s visit to the Kingdom will run until December 9 during which a Saudi-Chinese summit headed by King Salman and the Chinese president, with the participation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will be held.

Two other summits, a Gulf-Chinese summit and an Arab-Chinese summit, will also be held with leaders from Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Arab states expected to attend.

The Gulf-Chinese summit will be held on Friday, according to GCC Secretary General Nayef al-Hajraf.

Earlier this week, SPA reported that more than 20 initial agreements worth SAR 110 billion ($29.26 billion) will be signed during Xi Jinping’s visit to the Kingdom.