RIYADH: Investment opportunities, economic growth, and closer trade relations will be on the agenda at the 10th session of the Arab-Chinese Businessmen Conference scheduled to take place in Riyadh on June 11 and 12. According to the Saudi Press Agency, the event will also explore synergies in technology, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, agriculture, real estate and strategic minerals. Organized by the Saudi Ministry of Investment in partnership with the Chinese Council for the Promotion of International Trade and a host of other regional associations, the conference will welcome more than 2,000 private sector leaders and government officials. The SPA report added that Chinese investors would also get to examine emerging markets in the Kingdom through the “Invest Saudi” platform. The conference comes hot on the heels of the economic potential of the Middle East-China trade corridor discussed at an exclusive International Connections briefing organized by HSBC and the UAE China Business Council last week in Dubai. The UAE stands as China’s second-largest trading partner in the Arab world and the largest investment destination, and there is significant potential for further cooperation between the two countries. Similarly, Saudi Arabia and China bolstered their strategic relations and expanded their commercial ties during President Xi Jinping’s three-day state visit to the Kingdom last year. Xi and his delegation held talks with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the heads of key ministries, resulting in 35 memorandums of understanding and deals worth $30 billion. The two sides signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement, committing to support each other’s core interests, sovereignty, and territorial integrity and to defend the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states. “There is no doubt that working together with the second largest economy in the world is vital to Saudi Arabia’s growth, but that does not mean that we cannot continue to work with the world’s largest economy,” Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Faisal bin Farhan said during the visit.