The military cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia has gone through twists and turns, and finally the willows have come to an end. On June 25, Saudi Arabia's Minister of National Defense, Prince Salman, led a delegation to visit China, during which he was received by the Chinese side with a high level of reception. According to major media reports, the key words of this China-Saudi Arabia dialogue and cooperation are "security" and "military", which has also made the outside world and the majority of military fans reverie. It is very likely that the export of J-10C, which was blocked before, has a new way out, and Saudi Arabia is not only focusing on the procurement project of 80 J-10-C, but intends to build a "Chinese armed army".
In the context of the complicated situation in the Middle East, Prince Salman obviously came with multiple tasks. A well-known website that has been paying attention to the situation in the Middle East has written an analysis pointing out that Prince Salman's visit to China has three purposes: first, as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict continues to spill over, the "ship raid war" launched by the Houthis in the Red Sea has affected Saudi Arabia's ocean-going shipping interests, and Saudi Arabia hopes that China will use its influence to communicate and mediate; Second, in the process of Saudi Arabia's economic transformation, cooperation with China in new energy and other fields is getting deeper and deeper, and this visit to China is also aimed at further deepening economic cooperation. Third, in the military field, this is also the highlight of China-Saudi Arabia cooperation. As early as 2022, China and Saudi Arabia reached a $4 billion military purchase in the field of drones, ballistic missiles and anti-drone laser systems, and China will be one of Saudi Arabia's most important arms sales partners for Saudi Arabia, which is eager to improve its regional voice and military strength.
Indeed, in the past decade, Chinese weapons and equipment have continued to sail to the sea, and our main battle tanks, frigates, drones and other equipment have continued to be exported overseas. At the previous Zhuhai Air Show, we also launched a complete set of combat equipment for synthetic brigades. Especially in the field of fighters, the high performance and cost-effective advantages of Chinese fighters have established a reputation. Among them, our J-10C and Thunder have been exported to Pakistan, Myanmar and other countries, and their performance has been tested by the market. Unlike Western countries, China has never added bundling conditions to its foreign arms sales, nor has it left a trail in its weaponry and installed backdoor software. This open and transparent transaction model is well recognized by third parties such as Saudi Arabia. From the perspective of historical cooperation, China's sale of Dongfeng missiles to Saudi Arabia directly guaranteed Saudi Arabia's peace for decades. During the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein was preparing to invade Saudi Arabia, and it was precisely because Saudi Arabia showed off the Dongfeng missile that Saddam Hussein threw himself into a trap and did not dare to act rashly.
It stands to reason that Saudi Arabia has deep pockets, and China's weapons performance has fully met the demand, and China and Saudi Arabia once reached a consensus on the procurement of J-10CE, but because of the interference of the United States, it has not yet been finalized. After all, compared with UAVs, fighters belong to strategic equipment and are more sensitive. If China and Saudi Arabia reach a cooperation on the procurement of the J-10CE, the United States will inevitably get in the way. Not long ago, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a special visit to Saudi Arabia to force Saudi Arabia to choose sides between China and the United States under the threat of U.S.-Saudi defense cooperation. For the top level of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi army has always spent money to buy peace, and its military equipment is basically American-made equipment. With the political level of the crisis much outweighing the military performance gains, the difficulties of this transaction are still very high.
Interestingly, although military cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia faces a series of difficulties and challenges, the local media are very optimistic about the prospects of cooperation between the two sides. As early as 2022, the media wrote a special article arguing that China's pace in the Middle East is too slow, mainly because China is not proactive enough and too worried about various limitations. According to the website, in addition to increasing arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, China should be more proactive in building military bases in the Middle East and promoting the settlement of oil trade in yuan. In fact, even with the threat and pressure of the United States, China's contacts with Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries are getting deeper and deeper. In addition to military cooperation, in the economic field, cooperation between China and Middle Eastern countries in the "One Belt, One Road" and "BRICS" mechanisms has also continued to bear fruit. Saudi Arabia, for example, became a full member of the BRICS in January this year. We also believe that as the economic cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia continues to deepen, more Chinese weapons will inevitably be sold to Saudi Arabia in the future, and Saudi Arabia, with the help of China, will soon have a powerful "Chinese armed army".