Relationship between China and the GCC states: Natural partners or uneasy bedfellows?

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Saudi Arabia in early December 2022, he attended the China-Gulf Cooperation Council summit held for the first time. The summit addressed improving the bilateral GCC-China relationship and forming security ties between the parties. In his speech at the summit, Xi called on the two sides to be "natural partners" in promoting unity, develop-ment, security and civilisations, proposing five major areas for cooperation: energy, finance and investment, innovation and new technologies, aerospace, and language and cultures.l Nevertheless, a glance at the Sino-GCC relationship shows where the focal point lies: mainly in energy, infrastructure, finance, investment, trade and high technology.