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$10 Bn Investment Deals Signed on Day 1 of Arab-China Business Conference

Workshops on the sidelines of the Arab-China Business Conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Workshops on the sidelines of the Arab-China Business Conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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$10 Bn Investment Deals Signed on Day 1 of Arab-China Business Conference

Workshops on the sidelines of the Arab-China Business Conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Workshops on the sidelines of the Arab-China Business Conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The 10th Arab-China Business Conference witnessed the signing of investment agreements worth more than $10 billion, including 30 deals in various sectors.

Held under the theme of "Collaborating for Prosperity," the conference will bring together more than 3,000 government officials and business leaders from China and several Arab nations to discuss mutually beneficial cooperation in economy, trade, and investment.

The conference is jointly organized with the Union of Arab Chambers, the League of Arab States, and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).

On the sidelines of the conference, several agreements were concluded between the private and public sectors, including government-to-business deals.

The Saudi Ministry of Investment signed a $5.6 billion agreement with the Chinese company Human Horizons, which specializes in developing

autonomous driving technologies and manufacturing of electric cars under the HiPhi brand to establish a joint venture for automotive research, development, manufacturing, and sales.

- Rail wagons

The Ministry of Investment also signed a $266 million agreement with Hepopi Technology Co., Ltd., an Android software developer in Hong Kong, to develop tourism applications.

With the facilitation of the Ministry of Investment, a $250 million deal was concluded between the

Saudi Railways Company (SAPTCO) and Chinese state-owned and publicly traded rolling stock manufacturer, CRRC, inked a $250 million deal to manufacture rail wagons and wheels in Saudi Arabia.

- Iron factory

Also among the agreements is a $150 million deal between the Ministries of Investment, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources (MIM), and Chinese industrial manufacturer Sunda to manufacture caustic soda, chlorine, and its derivatives, chlorinated paraffin, calcium chloride, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and conversion products in the Kingdom.

Also, on the sidelines of the event, a $533 million deal between the AMR al-Uwlaa Company and Hong Kong-based Zhonghuan International Group to establish a factory to reduce iron ore and manufacture iron pellets for smelting plants in Saudi Arabia.

- Copper mining

Saudi Arabia's ASK Group and the China National Geological & Mining Corporation signed a $500 million cooperation agreement for developing, financing, constructing, and operating an Arabian Shield copper mining project.

A $266 million framework agreement was signed between Mabani Al- Safwah Ltd, China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Co., Ltd., and Top International Engineering Corporation Arabia Ltd. for advanced building construction in the Kingdom.

- Thousands of participants

The conference's extensive agenda attracted thousands of participants, including panel discussions, workshops, special meetings, and side events that addressed selected vital topics, such as social and environmental responsibility, governance, and enhancing the supply chain's resilience.

Over 3,000 decision-makers, senior government officials, investors, business owners, and specialists joined the conference for the first-day number of participants on the first day.

- Oil and gas

Participants of the conference's sidelines reiterated the importance of cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China, benefiting from each other's strengths to achieve common goals and drive innovation.

The topics include supply chains for the oil and gas sectors, innovation and research partnerships, challenges and solutions for global commercial supply chains, mining, and food processing.

- Tourism sector

Saudi Minister of Tourism Ahmed al-Khateeb asserted the responsibility to expand the Kingdom's contribution to the global travel and tourism market, noting that Saudi Arabia is investing more than $800 billion in the sector over the next ten years.

At the conference, Khateeb encouraged Chinese tourists to visit Saudi Arabia and called on investors to seize unprecedented opportunities in the Kingdom.

He stated that since the launch of the government's initiatives, 49 countries had been allowed to obtain e-visa and that many Arab countries are working diligently to increase their contributions to the travel and tourism sector.

Egyptian businessman Samih Sawiris, founder of Orascom Development, stressed that cooperation between Saudi and Chinese entities is the first step that can combine the power of knowledge in the Saudi market with the centrality of Beijing.

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Business

Global Unemployment ‘Stable’ in 2026, but Decent Jobs Lacking

A Palestinian employee inspects sweet locally known as "al-Shatwi" (Winter) Crimbo sweets, as the Al-Arees factory gradually resumes operations after a hiatus caused by the Gaza war which led to shortages of raw materials used in their products, in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip on January 12, 2026, following a US-brokered truce that halted the two-year war. (AFP)
A Palestinian employee inspects sweet locally known as "al-Shatwi" (Winter) Crimbo sweets, as the Al-Arees factory gradually resumes operations after a hiatus caused by the Gaza war which led to shortages of raw materials used in their products, in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip on January 12, 2026, following a US-brokered truce that halted the two-year war. (AFP)
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Global Unemployment ‘Stable’ in 2026, but Decent Jobs Lacking

A Palestinian employee inspects sweet locally known as "al-Shatwi" (Winter) Crimbo sweets, as the Al-Arees factory gradually resumes operations after a hiatus caused by the Gaza war which led to shortages of raw materials used in their products, in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip on January 12, 2026, following a US-brokered truce that halted the two-year war. (AFP)
A Palestinian employee inspects sweet locally known as "al-Shatwi" (Winter) Crimbo sweets, as the Al-Arees factory gradually resumes operations after a hiatus caused by the Gaza war which led to shortages of raw materials used in their products, in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip on January 12, 2026, following a US-brokered truce that halted the two-year war. (AFP)

The global unemployment rate is expected to hold steady in 2026, the United Nations said Wednesday, but cautioned the labor market's seeming stability belies a dire shortage of decent jobs.

The UN's International Labor Organization said the global economy and labor market appeared to have weathered recent economic shocks better than expected.

But the ILO warned that efforts to improve global job quality had stagnated, leaving hundreds of millions of workers wallowing in poverty, even as trade uncertainty risked cutting into workers wages.

The global unemployment rate was estimated at 4.9 percent last year and the year before, and is now projected to remain at a similar level until 2027, a report from the UN labor agency said.

That amounts to 186 million people out of work this year, it said.

"Global labor markets look stable, but that stability is quite fragile," Caroline Fredrickson, head of the ILO's research department, told reporters, cautioning that the "apparent calm masks deeper and unresolved problems".

At a time when US President Donald Trump has slapped towering tariffs on friends and foes alike, the report cautioned that "disruptions caused by trade uncertainty, combined with ongoing long-term transformations in global trade, could significantly affect labor market outcomes".

Going forward, the ILO said its modelling suggested that a moderate increase in trade policy uncertainty "may reduce returns to labor and, as a consequence, real wages for both skilled and unskilled workers across all sectors", especially in Southeast Asia, Southern Asia and Europe.

The potential of trade to generate new employment opportunities was also being challenged by the ongoing disruptions, the report said, pointing out that 465 million jobs globally depended on foreign demand through exports of goods and services and related supply chains in 2024.

- Extreme poverty -

Another major concern highlighted by the ILO was the quality of jobs available.

"Resilient growth and stable unemployment figures should not distract us from the deeper reality: hundreds of millions of workers remain trapped in poverty, informality, and exclusion," ILO chief Gilbert Houngbo said in a statement.

Nearly 300 million workers continue to live in extreme poverty, earning less than $3 a day, Wednesday's report found.

At the same time, some 2.1 billion workers are expected to hold informal jobs this year, with limited access to social protection, labor rights and job security.

Young people remain particularly vulnerable, with unemployment among 15- to 24-year-olds projected to reach 12.4 percent for 2025, with around 260 million young people not engaged in education, employment or training, ILO said.

It warned that artificial intelligence and automation could exacerbate challenges, particularly for educated young people in wealthier countries seeking their first high-skill jobs.

"While the full impact of AI on youth employment remains uncertain, its potential magnitude warrants close monitoring," the report said.

The ILO also highlighted "entrenched gender inequalities", pointing out that women still account for just two-fifths of global employment.

"Stable labor markets are not necessarily healthy," Fredrickson said, stressing the growing need for "domestic policy choices to strengthen decent work outcomes".

"Without decisive action, today's stability risks giving way to deeper inequalities."

Business

China Had a Record $1.2 Trillion Trade Surplus in 2025, as Exports Rose 6.6% in December

Women dressed in traditional Chinese-style attire cross a street in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP)
Women dressed in traditional Chinese-style attire cross a street in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP)
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China Had a Record $1.2 Trillion Trade Surplus in 2025, as Exports Rose 6.6% in December

Women dressed in traditional Chinese-style attire cross a street in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP)
Women dressed in traditional Chinese-style attire cross a street in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP)

China’s trade surplus surged to a record of almost $1.2 trillion in 2025, the government said Wednesday, as exports to other countries made up for slowing shipments to the United States.

China's exports rose 5.5% for the whole of last year to $3.77 trillion, customs data showed, while imports flatlined at $2.58 trillion. The 2024 trade surplus was over $992 billion.

In December, China’s exports climbed 6.6% from the year before in dollar terms, better than economists’ estimates and higher than November’s 5.9% year-on-year increase. Imports in December were up 5.7% year-on-year, compared to November’s 1.9%.

China’s trade surplus surpassed the $1 trillion mark for the first time in November, when the trade surplus reached $1.08 trillion in the first 11 months of last year.

Economists expect exports will continue to support China’s economy this year, despite trade friction and geopolitical tensions.

“We continue to expect exports to act as a big growth driver in 2026,” said Jacqueline Rong, chief China economist at BNP Paribas.

While China’s exports to the US have fallen sharply for most of last year since President Donald Trump returned to office and escalated his trade war with the world’s second-largest economy, that decline has been largely offset by shipments to other markets in South America, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.

For the whole of 2025, China’s exports to the US fell 20%. In contrast, exports to Africa surged 26%. Those to Southeast Asian countries jumped 13%; to the European Union 8%, and to Latin America, 7%.

Strong global demand for computer chips and other devices and the materials needed to make them were among categories that supported China’s exports, analysts said. Car exports also grew last year.

China's strong exports have helped keep its economy growing at an annual rate close to its official target of about 5%. But that has triggered alarm in countries that fear a flood of cheap imports are damaging local industries.

China faces a “severe and complex” external trade environment in 2026, Wang Jun, vice minister of China’s customs administration, told reporters in Beijing. But he said China’s “foreign trade fundamentals remain solid.”

The head of the International Monetary Fund last month called for China to fix its economic imbalances and speed up its shift from reliance on exports by boosting domestic demand and investment.

A prolonged property downturn in China after the authorities cracked down on excessive borrowing, triggering defaults by many developers, is still weighing on consumer confidence and domestic demand.

China’s leaders have made increasing spending by consumers and businesses a focus of economic policy, but actions taken so far have had a limited impact. That included government trade-in subsidies over the past months that encouraged consumers to buy newer, more energy efficient items, such as home appliances and vehicles, and replace older models.

“We expect domestic demand growth to stay tepid,” said Rong of BNP Paribas. “In fact, the policy boost to domestic demand looks weaker than last year -- in particular the fiscal subsidy program for consumer goods.”

Gary Ng, a senior economist at French investment bank Natixis, forecasts that China’s exports will grow about 3% in 2026, less than the 5.5% growth in 2025. With slow import growth, he expects China's trade surplus to remain above $1 trillion this year.

Business

Saudi Arabia Signs Mineral Cooperation Deals with Chile, Canada, Brazil

The MoUs were signed on the sidelines of the Ministerial Roundtable of ministers concerned with mining affairs, held as part of the fifth annual Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh. (SPA)
The MoUs were signed on the sidelines of the Ministerial Roundtable of ministers concerned with mining affairs, held as part of the fifth annual Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Signs Mineral Cooperation Deals with Chile, Canada, Brazil

The MoUs were signed on the sidelines of the Ministerial Roundtable of ministers concerned with mining affairs, held as part of the fifth annual Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh. (SPA)
The MoUs were signed on the sidelines of the Ministerial Roundtable of ministers concerned with mining affairs, held as part of the fifth annual Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia, represented by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, signed on Tuesday three international memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on mineral resources cooperation with the Chile, Canada, and Brazil.

The MoUs were signed on the sidelines of the Ministerial Roundtable of ministers concerned with mining affairs, held as part of the fifth annual Future Minerals Forum (FMF), hosted by Riyadh from January 13 to 15.

The deals reflect the Kingdom’s efforts to expand its international partnerships and strengthen technical and investment cooperation in the mining and minerals sector in a manner that serves mutual interests and supports the sustainable development of mineral resources.

The signing ceremony included MoUs on cooperation in the mineral resources field with the Chilean Ministry of Mining, the Canadian Department of Natural Resources, and the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy.

The Ministerial Roundtable recorded the largest level of international representation of its kind globally, with participation from more than 100 countries, including all G20 members in addition to the European Union, as well as 59 multilateral organizations, industry associations, and non-governmental organizations.

The attendance reflects the standing the ministerial meeting has attained as a leading international platform for aligning perspectives, building partnerships, and developing practical solutions to global challenges in the mining and minerals sector.