Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, has said that the Kingdom is working to organize an annual summit for the Middle East Green Initiative.
He made the announcement on Tuesday during a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The two leaders discussed the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative, which were recently announced by the Crown Prince, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
They discussed the contributions of the two initiatives toward achieving global targets to combat climate change, SPA said.
Xi told the Crown Prince that Beijing was willing to push its strategic partnership with Riyadh “to a new level,” the official Chinese Xinhua news agency reported.
In the phone call, the two leaders discussed boosting cooperation in energy, trade and technology, Xinhua added.
China’s crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia, its top supplier, rose 8.8 percent in March from a year earlier, according to Chinese customs data released earlier on Tuesday.
Describing China as a “trusted brother,” the Crown Prince said Saudi Arabia was willing to promote a “strategic link-up” between its Vision 2030 plan to diversify its economy away from oil and Xi’s signature Belt and Road trade and infrastructure initiative, according to Xinhua.