Saudi Industry Minister Explores High-Tech Automotive and Smart Collaboration with Chinese Companies

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef has visited the Guangzhou Economic & Technological Development District (GETDD) in China. SPA
Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef has visited the Guangzhou Economic & Technological Development District (GETDD) in China. SPA
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Saudi Industry Minister Explores High-Tech Automotive and Smart Collaboration with Chinese Companies

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef has visited the Guangzhou Economic & Technological Development District (GETDD) in China. SPA
Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef has visited the Guangzhou Economic & Technological Development District (GETDD) in China. SPA

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef has visited the Guangzhou Economic & Technological Development District (GETDD) as part of his visit to China.
Wednesday’s visit aimed to enhance industrial cooperation in several targeted industrial sectors.
He was accompanied by the Assistant Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources for Planning and Development, Dr. Abdullah Al-Ahmari, National Industrial Development Center (NIDC) Chief Executive Eng. Saleh Al-Sulami, and the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON) Chief Executive Eng. Majid Al-Argoubi.
The minister’s visit included a tour of Guangzhou MINO Equipment Co., Ltd., where he held discussions with the company's vice president on exploring cooperation opportunities in the manufacturing of high-tech vehicles.
He also visited Guangzhou Industrial Investment Holding Group (GIIHG) and discussed with the group's president ways to enhance cooperation in the industrial sector and the production of smart equipment.
The minister met with the Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (GAC) chairman to discuss the possibility of establishing a strategic partnership with the group and developing sustainable transportation solutions.
Al-Khorayef met with the chairman of Foton Motor, a company specialized in manufacturing commercial vehicles. They discussed joint initiatives in developing and advancing electric vehicles, hybrid technology, and advanced automotive technologies.
Additionally, he toured the GETDD, which was established in 1984. Among 219 similar zones, it ranks second in overall strength and first in scientific and technological innovation. The zone is also recognized as one of the top ten high-tech parks in China and globally.
In a main hall located in the Science Square, which features a wide range of exhibits, Al-Khorayef was briefed on the zone’s offerings in terms of knowledge exchange, best practices for capacity building, and fostering foreign investments.
The presentation also highlighted the incentives provided and Guangzhou’s experiences in scientific and technological innovations related to the industrial sector.
During his visits, he reviewed the sub-sectors of the National Industrial Strategy, including the automotive sector, and the incentives provided by the Kingdom to encourage foreign investments.
He also explored potential ways to exchange expertise, best practices for capacity building and knowledge enhancement, and leverage advanced Chinese experience in high-tech automotive manufacturing.



US Job Openings Fall as Demand for Workers Weakens

A retail store advertising a full-time job on its open door in Oceanside, California, US, May 10, 2021. Photo by Mike Blake/REUTERS
A retail store advertising a full-time job on its open door in Oceanside, California, US, May 10, 2021. Photo by Mike Blake/REUTERS
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US Job Openings Fall as Demand for Workers Weakens

A retail store advertising a full-time job on its open door in Oceanside, California, US, May 10, 2021. Photo by Mike Blake/REUTERS
A retail store advertising a full-time job on its open door in Oceanside, California, US, May 10, 2021. Photo by Mike Blake/REUTERS

America’s employers posted fewer job openings in July than they had the previous month, a sign that hiring could further cool in the coming months.
The Labor Department reported Wednesday that there were 7.7 million open jobs in July, down from 7.9 million in June and the fewest since January 2021. Openings have fallen steadily this year, from nearly 8.8 million in January, according to the Associated Press.
Layoffs rose from 1.56 million to 1.76 million, the most since March 2023, though that level of job cuts is roughly consistent with pre-Covid 19 levels, when the unemployment rate was historically low.
Layoffs have been unusually low since the economy’s rapid recovery from the pandemic recession, with many employers intent on holding onto their workers.
Overall, Wednesday’s report painted a mixed picture of the job market. On the positive side, total hiring rose in July, to 5.5 million, after it had fallen to a four-year low of 5.2 million in June.
And the number of people who quit their jobs ticked up slightly, to about 3.3 million.
The number of quits is seen as a measure of the job market’s health: Workers typically quit when they already have a new job or when they’re confident they can find one.
Still, quits remain far below the peak of 4.5 million reached in 2022, when many workers shifted jobs as the economy accelerated out of the pandemic recession.
July’s figures indicate that fewer companies are seeking to add workers despite recent data showing that consumer spending is still growing. Last week, the government estimated that the economy expanded at a healthy 3% annual rate in the April-June quarter.
Even as openings have fallen for the past two years, there are still roughly 1.1 job openings for every unemployed person, Wednesday’s report showed.
That reflects the economy’s continuing need for workers and marks a reversal from before the pandemic, when there were always more unemployed people than available jobs.
The July report on job openings is the first of several measures this week of the labor market’s health that the Federal Reserve will be watching closely.
If clear evidence emerges that hiring is faltering, the Fed might decide at its next meeting Sept. 17-18 to start cutting its benchmark interest rate by a relatively aggressive half-percentage point. If hiring remains mostly solid, however, a more typical quarter-point rate cut would be likelier.
In a speech at an annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that hiring has “cooled considerably” and that the Fed does not “seek or welcome further cooling” in the job market.
Economists saw those comments as evidence that the Fed may accelerate its rate cuts if it decides it is needed to offset a slowdown in hiring.