The Kingdom is moving its investment relationship with Beijing beyond capital attraction toward industrial partnerships that transfer technology and build value chains for Saudi, regional and global markets

Shanghai | BETH

Saudi Arabia has invited Chinese companies to take part in building the industries of the future inside the Kingdom, as its investment policy shifts toward higher-productivity projects, technology and knowledge transfer, quality job creation and stronger exports.

Dr. Saad Al-Shahrani, Deputy Minister of Investment for Economic Affairs and Investment Studies, said during the Saudi-Chinese investment dialogue in Shanghai that China is a strategic investment partner for the Kingdom and that the next phase will focus on deepening mutual investment, expanding industrial partnerships and building shared value chains.

He said non-oil domestic investment now represents around 40% of non-oil GDP, placing Saudi Arabia second among G20 economies after China. He also noted that the Kingdom’s foreign direct investment stock has doubled, while the number of foreign companies operating in Saudi Arabia has increased more than tenfold since the launch of Vision 2030.

Al-Shahrani stressed that Saudi Arabia is no longer measuring investment by size alone, but by its impact on the economy, productivity, technology, jobs and exports.

Comment | From Investing in Saudi Arabia to Producing from Saudi Arabia

The new element in Saudi Arabia’s message to China is not simply an invitation to bring in more capital.

The message is now:

Bring the capital — but bring the factory, the technology, the value chain and the market with it.

This marks an important shift. Saudi Arabia wants Chinese investment to become part of its productive capacity, not merely money entering the economy.

It is also notable that Saudi Arabia now ranks immediately behind China among G20 countries in the ratio of non-oil domestic investment to the non-oil economy.

In other words, Riyadh is not merely offering China a market; it is offering a partner that wants to build with China for Saudi Arabia, the region and the world.

And this, to me, is the real story. The rest of the figures in the statement — economic expansion, female labor participation, unemployment and the number of foreign companies — are useful in a broader report, but they distract from the strongest idea:

Saudi Arabia wants to move the relationship with China from “invest here” to “build with us.”