Giving the dragon its due: Sino-Arab economic ties may be one-sided
Are Sino-Arab economic relations tilted in China's favor? China pushes its investments into the Middle East and North Africa, but reverse flow is virtually non-existent, write Zawya analysts Reem Aboul Hosn and Hasan Shahin.
ZAWYA
November 16, 2011
16 November 2011 Are Sino-Arab economic relations tilted in China's favor? China pushes its investments into the Middle East and North Africa, but reverse flow is virtually non-existent, write Zawya analysts Reem Aboul Hosn and Hasan Shahin. For centuries, the dragon in Chinese culture has represented benevolence, good fortune and power; characteristics that have come to define China's tenacious investment strategy in the Middle East and North Africa. Yet, is the region responding in kind? Some say the MENA is not taking full advantage of its relationship and investment potential in China.
The tilt in the relationship is expressed in many ways: the small number of Middle East experts on the Chinese market, the still negligible MENA investments in the country and the even fewer speakers of Chinese languages. This imbalance has left China with the opportunity to become the dominant player in the relationship.
China's interest in the MENA has amplified in the past few years, as part of its "going out" strategy, which increased values of trade between the two regions from USD 37 billion, in 2004, to USD 190 billion in 2010, a 418% increase, and USD 120 billion during the first half of 2011 (see chart).
This can be attributed to its desire to secure energy to sustain its mammoth industrial sector, as well as its large population. "The country's burgeoning demand [for oil] now accounts for 40% of global growth in demand," according to an April 2011 testimony given before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission on China's Interests in the Middle East and North Africa.
