(MNI) London - As part of a multi-day visit to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Chinese Premier Li Qiang is meeting with officials from Saudi gov't and industry. Says that China 'encourages Saudi firms to expand and strengthen cooperation with China in O&G, petrochemicals, infrastructure and trade'. Chinese state outlet Xinhua reports that Li 'called on China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to strengthen the alignment of development strategies and speed up the free trade agreement negotiations process.'

• Li met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for talks earlier today and the two will chair the fourth meeting of the High-Level Sino-Saudi Joint Committee. The Chinese premier will travel to the UAE for talks on 13 September.
• The visit comes as China seeks to play an increasingly active economic and diplomatic role in the Middle East. The development of closer relations with Saudi and the UAE - two of the US' closest allies in the region - is seen by the US-based Atlantic Council think tank as indicating a shift in stance from Beijing. This activism was seen in 2023 with China's brokering of a normalisation deal between Saudi and Iran.