Chinese President X's visit to Saudi likely to give headache to the US: report

Riyadh: Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Saudi Arabia began on Wednesday appears to signal at the country expanding its influence in Gulf the region where the hold of the US is weakening.

Riyadh is also on the course of going beyond its traditional relations with the Europe and the US, emphasizing the fact that the international relations are fast changing.

Xi Jinping's visit to Riyadh comes at a time when Saudi's ties with Washington appears to be strained after the US criticised human right record of Saudi, according to Reuters

Saudi's support for curbs on oil output has been another bone of contention between the two nations.

The White House reportedly said Xi's visit was part of Chinese attempts to exert influence, and added that the US would not change US policy towards the Middle East.

China is both the world's biggest energy consumer and a major trade partner of oil and gas in the gulf region and the US has concerns about China's growing influence in the region, especially in ' sensitive infrastructure' of the Gulf', according to the report.

Xi's visit to Saudi takes places just as Europe is facing energy crisis following Russia-Ukraine war.

Meanwhile, Russia has been supplying discounted oil to China, while still Saudi Arabia remains as the top oil supplier to China.

Interestingly, Chinese and Saudi firms on Wednesday reportedly signed 34 deals in green energy, information technology, cloud services, transport, construction and other sectors.

While still entering ties with Saudi Arabia on various front, China retains its ties with Riyadh's rival Iran as it is a major oil supplier to China.

Saudi Arabia had reportedly supported China's policies in Xinjiang, where human right abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslims continue.