RIYADH: Just two months after his appointment as Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, Khalid al-Falih last week visited China and South Korea, seeking ways to expand trade flows and explore investment prospects, in a sign that OPEC’s top producer is intensifying efforts to expand its presence in key Asian oil buyers.
Falih, who was only appointed oil minister in early May, wasted little time in visiting the kingdom’s leading buyer, China, and held meetings with several high-ranking officials during the G20 Energy Ministers Meeting in Beijing.
These included Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, who extended an invitation to the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to visit China later this year, Saudi Arabia’s oil ministry said in a statement Friday.
China and Saudi Arabia discussed growth prospects and areas of cooperation and found mutual interests in crude oil storage, logistics, infrastructure, industrial development, mining, technology, energy, renewables and sovereign wealth funds, according to the ministry statement.
