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This phase which began in the mid-1990s also coincided with China
emerging as the net oil importer, with Saudi Arabia emerging as one its
biggest suppliers.
Since then China has been making serious inroads in the Middle East
and seen the energy-rich Gulf countries as essential allies in its global eco-
nomic ambitions (Olimat 2015 ). The Gulf countries supply nearly
50 per cent of its total oil imports and are a significant market for the
Chinese goods; for example, while the global economic growth has been
sliding since 2008–09, the Sino-Gulf trade has gone up from US$127 bil-
lion in 2008 to US$193.35 billion in 2015 (China 2016 ). China has
invested considerably in various infrastructure development projects in
Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE as well as in Israel. Some of the
major projects include
- Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Cooperation & Investment Company
(JOCIC) signed a US$300 million deal to operate various firms at
the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad) - China’s COSCO shipping deal to operate a new container terminal
at Khalifa Port, the second busiest port in the UAE to Dubai, for the
next 35 years at a cost of US$738 million - To develop a port and industrial centre at Duqm, Oman with invest-
ments of US$10 billion - A US$20 billion joint investment fund with Saudi Arabia
- To build the Lusail Stadium as a joint venture between Qatari firm
HBK Contracting and the China Railway Construction Corporation
(CRCC) which will host the 2022 FIFA final - A US$200 million factory in Bahrain International Investment Park
(BIIP) by Chinese fibreglass manufacturer CPIC in partnership with
Abahsain Fiberglass Middle East.
Since 2013 China has been building the Gwadar Port in Pakistan,
which started to operate partially in November 2016 and would enable
China to bypass the highly congested Malacca Straits for its energy trade
from the Gulf. The ambitious One-Belt-One-Road (OBOR) plan unveiled
in 2013 by President Xi Jinping is the latest addition to its desire to
enhance economic engagements with the region through a host of road,
rail and port facilities in the Gulf (Cafiero and Wagner 2017 ).
In sheer economic terms, China has been a bigger player in the Gulf
than India. For example, in 2015–16 the Sino-GCC trade stood at
P. R. KUMARASWAMY AND MD. M. QUAMAR