China, Saudi Arabia sign $65 billion in cooperation deals

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, second right, meets with Saudi Arabia's King Salman, second left, at Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, March 17, 2017. (Lintao Zhang/Pool Photo via AP) (The Associated Press)

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, right, shakes hands with Saudi Arabia's King Salman at Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, March 17, 2017. (Lintao Zhang/Pool Photo via AP) (The Associated Press)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, accompanied by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, attends a meeting with Saudi King Salman at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Thursday, March 16, 2017. Salman began a visit to Beijing Thursday that highlights growing ties underpinned by China's thirst for Saudi oil and the kingdom's status as a key link in Beijing's bid to connect China to Europe through infrastructure development. (Lintao Zhang/Pool Photo via AP) (The Associated Press)

China and Saudi Arabia have signed a memorandum of understanding on investment cooperation valued at $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. On Friday, 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.

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