Saudi Aramco CEO highlights importance of China market

Khalid A. Al-Falih, President and CEO of Saudi Aramco, recently visited Beijing to attend the China Development Forum (CDF) 2014 and to meet key stakeholders.

Over the course of his three-day visit, Al-Falih reiterated several times the strategic importance of the Chinese market. According to Al-Falih, China, the world’s largest emerging economy and already the largest exporter, will be a key focus for Saudi Aramco in the decades to come. And Saudi Aramco, as China’s reliable oil supplier, “remains strongly committed to China’s energy security and the associated oil-related investments,” Al-Falih said.

Among key stakeholders were the business partners China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Chinese media and Aramco Asia employees in the Beijing office. Al-Falih was accompanied by Ahmed A. Al-Subaey, executive director of Marketing, Supply and Joint Venture Coordination.

Importantly, this year’s CDF, which featured the theme “China: To Comprehensively Deepen Reform,” provided an occasion for meeting and sharing views with key government officials at a crucial time in light of China’s ongoing comprehensive reform, especially in the energy sector. This included a meeting between Al-Falih and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, along with a group of corporate executives. In addition, Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli and many ministers of China’s State Council spoke at the opening ceremony, highlighting China’s plans for comprehensive reform.

(saudiaramco.com  Edited by Topco)