Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a welcome ceremony held by Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Riyadh on Tuesday. Xi is in Riyadh for a two-day state visit to Saudi Arabia.


This is the first leg of his three-nation tour of the Middle East, which will also take him to Egypt and Iran. Xi is scheduled to discuss with King Salman about lifting bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership. This is the first state visit by a Chinese head of state to Saudi Arabia in seven years. He will also meet chiefs of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.


Saudi Arabia is China's biggest global supplier of crude oil and its biggest trading partner in West Asia and Africa. In 2013, China became the biggest trading partner of Saudi Arabia for the first time.


Two-way trade reached 69.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, growing 230 times over that of 1990 when the two countries established diplomatic ties. Saudi Arabia is the first Arab country Xi visits as the Chinese president, and this Middle East tour comes as China and Arab countries mark 60 years in diplomatic relations in 2016.