China becoming major Middle East supplier

China has now become Saudi Arabia’s No.1 source of imports, according to the latest foreign trade statistics, and amounting to 24.7 billion rial ($6.6 billion), for a year-on-year increase of 31 percent.

After China, come the United States (2nd), Germany (3rd), Japan (4th), and UAE (5th) for Saudi Arabia’s imports, and accounting for for 46.3 percent of the total. Among the major imports are machinery and equipments, accounting for 45 billion rial, or just under 30 percent of the total.