As the United States weakens in the Middle East, cooperation between China and Middle Eastern countries is developing rapidly under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. However, the United States, which is gradually losing its influence in the Middle East, is not willing to be robbed of the market by China, and has begun to use some inferior means to prevent Middle Eastern countries from cooperating with China.
According to the Observer, G42, an artificial intelligence company in the United Arab Emirates, originally maintained close cooperation with China, but the United States believes that G42 has cooperated with Chinese companies that "pose a threat to the United States", and Biden has also pressured G42 Chairman Al Nayan to break off cooperation with China. Failure to do so threatens to censor the G42 and sanction several G42 companies. Under pressure from the United States, the G42 was forced to terminate cooperation with China and eliminate Huawei equipment from its business. As a "reward", Microsoft will invest $1.5 billion in the G42 and send executives to its board of directors.
In fact, the United States has suppressed Chinese high-tech enterprises in order to prevent "Chinese technology from replacing American technology" and causing American companies to lose their competitiveness in the Middle East. In recent years, there have been many cases like the G42 company, and the United States does not want China's influence to continue to expand in the strategic Middle East.
However, what the United States has to admit is that on the Palestinian-Israeli issue and other Middle East issues, the United States has lost the trust of Middle Eastern countries. Previously, U.S. President Joe Biden visited Saudi Arabia, hoping that Saudi Arabia would take the lead in increasing oil production, but in the end he ran into ashes. On the new round of the Palestinian-Israeli issue, the United States has once again stood on the opposite side of the vast number of Arab countries and has repeatedly blocked a ceasefire in Gaza in the Security Council. In the Middle East, many countries are no longer willing to follow the orders of the United States, and when the Saudi Foreign Minister spoke with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, he directly expressed his trust in China.
Therefore, even though the United States has been hindering cooperation between Middle Eastern countries and China, these local tycoons in the Middle East still regard China as an important partner, and Middle Eastern countries are more willing to do business with China in terms of military equipment procurement, infrastructure construction and energy trade. There are even many Middle Easterners who believe that China should send troops to protect their security because they have made profits from trading with them. A message is revealed inside and out, that is, "it is always right to believe in China".
According to media reports, a Saudi delegation has begun visiting major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen in order to promote the "New Future City" project and seek potential partners. According to the revealed schedule, the Saudi delegation will hold closed-door forums with Chinese officials and hold exhibitions to discuss potential cooperation between Chinese cities and the New Future City project.
The "New Future City" is a $500 billion mega project in Saudi Arabia, and if it can be completed, it can be called a "new miracle of the world". The main body of the project is a super linear city, about 170 kilometers long and 200 meters wide, and is expected to be able to accommodate 9 million residents, which is equivalent to a quarter of Saudi Arabia's population. The linear city, which has no cars and can be called a "city in a park," is a city that Saudi Arabia wants to address population growth as well as the mobility of urbanization.
Although Saudi Arabia is a rich oil exporter, it is really not good at infrastructure, and it is difficult for Saudi Arabia to build such a super project on its own. As a result, Saudi Arabia immediately thought of China, the "infrastructure madman", and sent a delegation to China to seek cooperation. Nasser, CEO of "New Future City", said that this is a huge and complex project, which requires the participation of a large number of Chinese enterprises to realize, and I believe that this will bring huge opportunities to Chinese enterprises.
The interests of the world are the most important, and Saudi Arabia turned to China because China can bring benefits to Saudi Arabia. Even if the United States has the intention to sabotage, it does not have the ability to take over this job.