ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines Beijing's worldview and how the Middle East fits therein. It explores the four main factors that have elevated the meaning of the Middle East for the People's Republic of China (PRC) over the span of four decades. The PRC is inextricably enmeshed and intertwined with the global economic system. The Middle East has long been an arena of great power rivalry. Since the 1990s, the Middle East has been an essential source of imported energy for China. Beijing's foremost economic interest in the Middle East is stable access to the region's energy resources. Beijing and Riyadh are actively engaged in bilateral cooperation on petrochemical and natural gas projects. Saudi Arabia exports tens of billions of US dollars of these chemicals to China annually. Since the late 1990s, Saudi Arabia and China have conducted billions of dollars of trade annually, exclusive of petroleum and other energy sectors since the late 1990s.
