Saudi Arabia has awarded two Chinese companies contracts worth 1.9 billion Saudi riyals ($506.15 million) to build nearly 4,500 housing units in the kingdom.

CACC will build the Al-Ruba residential project in Riyadh, comprising 2,010 housing units valued at SAR 875 million, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) won a SAR 1.06 billion contract to build the Al-Rasha project in Al-Faisaliyah district, Dammam, which will house 2,426 residential units.

A total of six agreements and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) were signed between Saudi and Chinese companies during Saudi Arabia's Minister of Municipalities and Housing Majed Al-Hogail's visit to China, the report said.

The pacts covered investment in the construction sector, localisation of modern building technologies, knowledge and expertise transfer, human capital development, and support for public-private partnerships.

The Saudi-Chinese partnership aims to deliver 100,000 housing units by 2030. The 2025 target was achieved through contracts covering 18,000 housing units.

Contracts signed this year exceed 19,000 units, bringing the total to more than 37,000, the statement said.

In October 2025, two framework contracts were signed by NHC with Chinese contractors to implement more than 24,000 housing units. This included an agreement with China Construction Seventh Engineering Division to build 20,000 housing units worth SAR 8.70 billion, and with CACC to participate in the 20,000-unit programme

In May 2024, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned National Housing Company (NHC) had signed agreements with CSCEC and China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) to build 20,000 housing units each in the communities being developed by NHC. An agreement was also signed with China’s CITIC Construction Group to establish an industrial and logistic city for building materials, comprising 12 factories to secure supply chains for the NHC’s projects.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Saudi Arabia in December 2022, the Ministry had signed a strategic SAR 10.5 billion framework agreement with a consortium of Chinese state-owned companies to support the construction of more than 100,000 residential units across the Kingdom.

The MOUs with Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC), Sinohydro Corporation, POWERCHINA and China State Construction Overseas Development Co. (a subsidiary of CSCEC) covered partnerships for projects, and establishing factories for modern building technologies.

(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)

Subscribe to our Projects' PULSE newsletter that brings you trustworthy news, updates and insights on project activities, developments, and partnerships across sectors in the Middle East and Africa.