HAIKOU /China/, September 21. /TASS/. A report on the results of China's energy cooperation with Arab countries was presented at an industry forum held in the Chinese city of Haikou (southern Hainan Province), the Haikou Daily newspaper reported.
The document was presented on September 19 at one of the sessions of the 7th China-Arab Energy Cooperation Conference, which was attended by more than 600 representatives of the industry. The report was prepared by the CNPC Economics & Technology Research Institute. The paper points out that China's cooperation with Arab countries in the oil and gas field continues to expand, which serves as the foundation of China-Arab cooperation in the energy sector.
Scope of cooperation
The report shows the advantages and mutual benefits of the China-Arab economic and industrial structure, as well as the continued expansion of cooperation between the two sides in trade, investment, finance and other areas. However, it is energy that is the backbone of this cooperation. Arab countries account for 53% of China's imports of crude oil from abroad, according to the report, as well as 16 percent of its natural gas imports. Arab countries, in turn, export 31% of all foreign crude oil to China. For natural gas, the corresponding figure is 18%.
China-Arab energy cooperation strongly contributes to the stability of the international energy market and global sustainable development, the report said. In addition, energy supplies to China from Arab countries support the development of China's manufacturing industry. At present, China's manufacturing exports account for 14 percent of the global total, giving a strong impetus to global economic development, the report said.
China-Arab energy trade continues to grow, and the scale of trade continues to expand. The trade volume between China and Arab countries reached $430.1 billion in 2022. Meanwhile, China has become the largest trading partner of the Arab League. Energy trade accounted for 49.35% of the total trade turnover structure. In 2022, China imported 272 million tons of crude oil and 17.32 million tons of natural gas from Arab countries.
Investment cooperation between the two sides also continues to deepen. As of 2021, China's total investment in Arab countries amounted to $22.95 billion, and Arab countries' investment in China amounted to $3.54 billion. In 2022, China's new direct investment in Arab countries reached $2.62 billion, up 13.3% from 2021, and Arab countries increased their investment in China nine times to $1.05 billion. In Arab countries, China mainly invests in oil and gas, logistics and chemical industries. As for Arab countries, in China, their investments are mainly in the petrochemical industry.