China, Saudi Arabia sign $65 billion in cooperation deals

China and Saudi Arabia have signed a memorandum of understanding on investment cooperation valued at USD 65 billion and involving 35 cooperative projects.

The agreement followed talks Thursday between Saudi King Salman and President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Beijing is rolling out a massive trade and investment initiative across Central Asia and the Middle East called "One Belt, One Road" and sees the desert kingdom as a regional linchpin.

Today, Salman met with Premier Li Keqiang. Despite the eye-catching figure, such agreements usually result in much smaller actual commitments once projects begin.

Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil producer, Aramco, is a partner with state-owned China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. in a refinery in the southeastern province of Fujian and has other Chinese projects.