Remarks by SVP Al-Qahtani at the China-Arab States Expo

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, zǎo shàng hǎo(زاو شَن خاو) and good morning.

I would like to thank our gracious organizers for this opportunity to share my thoughts with you at this critical time … as the world struggles to emerge from the havoc unleashed by Covid-19.

I also want to congratulate China for being among the leading countries to effectively tackle the pandemic and recover rapidly.

President Xi’s historic Belt and Road Initiative is a platform for building a global community and a shared future … offering Arab nations, in particular, a solution for common prosperity and development.

Aramco is delighted to be a partner in progress through our long-standing trade and investment links with China. … And privileged to help advance our many shared strategic priorities.

The first, of course, is supporting a vibrant economy.

China’s economic transformation has been remarkable. … And Aramco’s commitment to your nation’s energy security and economic development is stronger than ever.

From our initial crude cargo in 1991, to reaching almost 17% of China’s crude imports in the first half of this year, Aramco has safely and reliably supplied China with almost 7 billion barrels of oil … making us China’s #1 crude oil supplier.

Even better, the barrels we supply have one of the world’s lowest Upstream carbon intensity footprints.

Over these past 30 years, our bilateral relations have grown far beyond the buying and selling of crude oil, to a diversified investment portfolio, and even joint operations.

These include refining projects such as the Fujian Refining & Petrochemical complex … and YASREF Joint Venture in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia … as well as a range of cutting-edge research and industry partnerships.

And with SABIC now a part of Aramco’s global enterprise, we see a game-changer in Downstream opportunities, with a scale and mix of products to expand our investments and partnerships in China.

As our President and CEO, Amin Nasser, expressed to a Chinese audience just last month … we are positioned to deliver this value “not just for the next five years, or even the next 50 … but far beyond.”

Secondly, we recognize the urgency to balance economic and environmental goals.

And we believe in the circular carbon economy approach, which was endorsed by the G20 Energy Ministers, as the framework for achieving the greatest impact.

We want to work with China to leverage our industry leadership on emission reduction … as well as our innovations to reduce, reuse, recycle, and remove carbon dioxide … and bring about more sustainable energy solutions.

For example, chemicals hold tremendous promise. Here, we aim to leverage our cutting-edge direct crude-to-chemicals conversion technology and recycled, circular polymers.

In addition, we are pursuing new sources of energy such as blue hydrogen … and we hope to expand our collaboration with China in areas including clean hydrogen and ammonia, combined with carbon capture and storage.

And finally, human talent and technology remain our greatest resources. Our Research Center in Beijing, and SABIC’s Technology Center in Shanghai, are working “at the speed of science” to support China’s efforts to become self-sufficient in groundbreaking, futuristic technologies.

In fact, China is the hub from which Aramco supports our entire business across Asia, with an organization comprising 185 employees – more than 90% of whom are Chinese. And we have more than 80 Saudis fluent in Mandarin, having earned their degrees from Chinese universities.

These bonds run deep.

So, ladies and gentlemen, my message today is one of respect and appreciation … Together, China and Aramco are making progress toward some very powerful goals.

We are employing multiple levers to further strengthen our win-win partnership … from existing and new energy sources and advanced petrochemical materials … to technology, climate protection and people-to-people bonds.

I thank you for your commitment to this partnership in progress as it grows in new directions. …

And I wish you every success for a productive Expo.

Thank you and xiè xie. شِي شِي