China, Saudi military cooperation on ‘fast track’ as top defence officials meet
- Riyadh’s Khalid bin Salman holds meetings with China’s top generals during relations-building visit to Beijing
Two of China’s leading generals met the Saudi defence minister in Beijing on Tuesday as part of a stepping up in military cooperation between the two countries.
According to the Chinese defence ministry, Zhang told Salman that “China values its traditional friendship with Saudi Arabia” and said relations between their armies were on a “fast track”.
Cooperation in “army exchanges, personnel training and joint exercises and drills” had been “fruitful”, Zhang said, adding that “China is open to cooperation with the Saudi military”.
On his X account, Salman said they “explored ways to strengthen the Saudi-Chinese relations within the framework of our strategic defence partnership. We also discussed our coordination efforts to promote international peace and security.”
Several high-ranking Saudi officials were also in the delegation to Beijing, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
As China’s second-ranking military official after President Xi Jinping – who also chairs the CMC, the country’s top military decision-making and command body – Zhang rarely meets defence ministers.
