#Media Weekly #Saudi Arabia, the mysterious country of the Middle East
Author: Apricot Flower Kernel Gold
Today, Xinghua introduces Saudi Arabia, a friendly country on the mainland.
Saudi Arabia, full name: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, commonly known as Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has a land area of 2.25 million square kilometers and a population of 34.2 million (2020), its official language, Arabic, its main ethnic group, and Islam, its main religion.
Saudi Arabia is located in the Arabian Peninsula in southwest Asia, bordered by the Persian Gulf to the east and the Red Sea to the west, and borders Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar and other countries. Saudi coastline is 2,448 kilometers long, the terrain is high in the west and low in the east, except for the southwest plateau and the northern region is a subtropical Mediterranean climate, other areas are tropical desert climate, hot and dry summers, the highest temperature can reach more than 50 °C; The winter climate is mild, with an average annual rainfall of no more than 200 mm.
In the 7th century, the successors of Muhammad, the founder of Islam, established the Arab Empire, which was at its peak in the 8th century, spanning three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa. It began to decline in the 11th century and came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. The British invasion in the 19th century was divided into two parts: Hejaz and Najd. In 1924, Najd's chief Abdulaziz Al Saud annexed Hejaz and proclaimed himself king the following year. After years of conquest, Abdulaziz Al Saud finally unified the Arabian Peninsula and proclaimed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on September 23, 1932, which was designated as Saudi National Day.
Saudi Arabia is divided into 13 provinces: Riyadh, Mecca, Medina, Eastern Province, Qassim Province, Al Al Khail, Asir Province, Baja Province, Tabuk Province, Northern Frontier Province, Jazan Province, Najran Province and Al Al Al Jawf Province. The province consists of first-level counties and second-level counties, and first-level townships and second-level townships under counties.
Saudi Arabia is a monarchy and political parties are prohibited from operating. The king was also known as "the servant of the two holy places (Mecca and Medina)". The King exercises supreme executive and judicial power, has the power to appoint, dissolve or reorganize the Cabinet, to appoint and abolish the Crown Prince, to dissolve the Consultative Council, and to approve and veto the resolutions of the Council of Ministers and treaties and agreements signed with foreign countries. On 1 March 1992, King Fahd promulgated the Basic Law on Statecraft, which stipulates that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia shall be crowned King by the best of the descendants of its founder, King Abdulaziz Rahman Faisal Al Saud.
The Saudi Consultative Council was formally established on 29 December 1993 as a national political advisory body with 13 special committees. The Consultative Council consists of a President and 150 members of parliament, appointed by the King for a four-year renewable term.
Saudi Arabia relies on the Quran and the Sunnah as the basis for enforcement. The Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Council of the Judiciary are responsible for the administration of judicial matters. In 2007, King Abdullah promulgated the Judicial System and Implementation Measures and the Appeal System and Implementation Measures to establish a new judicial system. Establish three levels of courts, including the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and the General Court, and establish criminal, civil, commercial and labour courts. The President of the Supreme Court is appointed by the King. The appeals system provides for the establishment of three levels of administrative litigation bodies directly under the King, namely, the Supreme Administrative Tribunal, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the Administrative Tribunal.
Saudi Arabia pursues an independent foreign policy and actively participates in regional affairs by relying on political and religious influence and economic strength. Attach importance to the development of relations with the United States, at the same time carry out diversified diplomacy, strengthen relations with Pakistan, Malaysia and other Asian Islamic countries, as well as with China and Japan, and actively play the role of oil power. Saudi Arabia is the only Arab member of the G20 and has established diplomatic relations with more than 130 countries.
Saudi Arabia's economy is powered by oil, and the government controls the country's main economic activities. In recent years, the international oil price has been sluggish, resulting in increased downward pressure on the Saudi economy. In order to get rid of the high dependence on the oil industry, Saudi Arabia promoted a diversified development strategy, launching the "Vision 2030" and "National Transformation Plan 2020" in 2016. Saudi Arabia is the world's second largest proven oil reserve country after Canada, with proven crude oil reserves of 36.35 billion tons, accounting for 16% of the world's reserves, ranking second in the world. Natural gas reserves of 8.2 trillion cubic meters, ranking sixth in the world. In addition, it also has gold, copper, iron, tin, aluminum, zinc, phosphate and other mineral deposits. Saudi Arabia is the world's largest producer of desalination seawater, accounting for about 20% of the world's desalination. The oil and petrochemical industries are the lifeblood of Saudi Arabia's economy, with oil revenues accounting for 87% of the country's revenue and 42% of GDP. In recent years, the Saudi government has made full use of its abundant oil and natural gas resources, actively introduced foreign advanced technology and equipment, and vigorously developed non-oil industries such as steel, aluminum smelting, cement, seawater desalination, power industry, agriculture and services.
Saudi Arabia pursues a press policy based on the principle of observance of Islamic laws and regulations and serves society ideologically and culturally. Dozens of newspapers and hundreds of magazines are distributed throughout the country. Arabic-language newspapers mainly include Riyadh, Middle East (published in London), Life Newspaper, El País, Okaz and so on; The main English-language newspapers are Arab News, Saudi Gazette, Saudi Economic Survey, etc.
Founded on January 23, 1971, Saudi News Agency is the official Saudi news agency, directly under the leadership of the Ministry of Culture and Information, and published in Arabic, English and French. There are 4 domestic branches (Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Dammam) and 6 foreign branches (Bonn, Cairo, Paris, London, Tunisia, Washington). Radio Saudi Arabia consists of 22 stations broadcasting using mediumwave, shortwave and FM. Radio Jeddah, Radio Riyadh and Radio Koran are the three largest stations.
Saudi Arabia established a television network in 1964, began broadcasting black-and-white television programs in 1965, and color television broadcasts in 1976. There are now four television stations, 107 transit stations throughout the country, and the television network has covered 98 per cent of the country.
The main tourist cities in Saudi Arabia are Taif, Mecca, Medina, Habara, Riyadh, Jeddah. Main attractions are Abdullah Al-Abbas Mosque, Subra Palace, King Faisal's residence, King Fahd Park, Radev Natural Park and Zoo, Islamic University of Medina, King Fahd's Quran Printing Institution, Prophet's Mosque, Sanctuary of Flowers, Edge of the World, Kingdom Center Building, King Fahd Fountain, Jeddah Aquarium, Jeddah Dive Resort, Water Mosque, Jeddah Art Museum, Amusement Park, Al Ra Ancient City, Alma Village in Asir region. World Heritage Sites include the Stone Valley Archaeological Site (Madianshalle), the Artureif district of the Draiya site, the ancient city of Jeddah - the Gate to Mecca, rock art in the Hale region, Al Ahsa Oasis.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Saudi Arabia on July 21, 1990, the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries have developed comprehensively and rapidly. In June 2008, the two countries established strategic friendly relations. In January 2012, the two countries decided to further upgrade their bilateral relations within the strategic framework. In January 2016, the two countries established a comprehensive strategic partnership and decided to establish a high-level joint committee between China and Saudi Arabia.
In 2010, Saudi Arabia invested 150 million US dollars to build the Saudi Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, which was rated as the "most popular pavilion" of the Shanghai World Expo, and the Saudi side has given the pavilion to the Chinese side. From December 20, 2016 to March 19, 2017, "The Arabian Way – Saudi Excavated Cultural Relics Exhibition" was exhibited at the National Museum of China, which is the largest Saudi exhibition of cultural relics held in East Asia in recent years. In March 2017, the King Abdulaziz Library Peking University Branch was inaugurated with the presence of King Salman and received an honorary doctorate from Peking University. From September to November 2018, Mainland China held the largest "Chinese Treasures Exhibition" in the Middle East for the first time in Saudi Arabia. In October, the Saudi Minister of Culture visited China and attended the China-Arab Culture Ministers' Forum and the closing ceremony of the 4th Arab Arts Festival.
In recent years, economic and trade exchanges and people-to-people exchanges between China and Saudi Arabia have maintained a good development trend, Saudi Arabia has incorporated Chinese teaching into its basic syllabus, and tourism exchanges have been deepened. Saudi Arabia is a country with important influence in the Gulf region, unique tourism resources, strong complementarity and broad prospects for tourism cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia. Both sides hope to further strengthen communication and expand the scale of two-way tourism exchanges, and Saudi Arabia's desire to list it as a destination country for China's outbound tourism is particularly strong.
The Saudi side affirmed and recognized the great achievements and rich experience accumulated in China's tourism development, hoped to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation with China in the field of tourism, and welcomed Chinese enterprises to invest in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is willing to provide more convenience for Chinese tourists to visit Saudi Arabia.
For a long time, Saudi Arabia has been one of the few countries in the world that does not issue tourist visas. From September 28, 2019, Saudi Arabia officially opened tourist visa applications to citizens of 49 countries, including China, and applicants can apply for an e-visa online or apply for a visa on arrival in Saudi Arabia, which is the first time that Saudi Arabia has opened tourist visas to foreign tourists. The Saudi government aims to reach 100 million international and domestic tourists per year by 2030. The top 10 countries for obtaining Saudi tourist visas are China, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Malaysia, France, Germany, Russia, Australia, Kazakhstan.