On a five-day tour of the Middle East kicking off Dec. 12, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi touched down first in Abu Dhabi and then moved on to Riyadh, followed by Amman. Although formally aimed at extending trade and energy ties, Wang's high-level meetings could play a role in consolidating Beijing’s political influence in the region.

Having helped broker the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement by leveraging its economic ties with Riyadh and Tehran, China may now seek to play a diplomatic role in Gaza as it emerges from the Israel-Hamas war that ended in October after some two years of fighting. Though no dramatic breakthroughs resulted from Wang’s meetings, the groundwork for executing the next steps in Beijing’s Middle East policy may now be complete, as his visits likely sought to achieve.

Five days in the region

In Abu Dhabi on Dec. 12, Wang Yi met with the Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed. During their discussion, Wang indicated interest in closer coordination with Abu Dhabi across multilateral platforms — such as BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the United Nations — while separately pledging deeper bilateral cooperation in investment, oil and gas. The two also exchanged views on the current situation in the Middle East.