China and Saudi Arabia Deepen Full Industrial Chain Cooperation on Digital Infrastructure
In mid-July, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Saudi Arabia led a high-level delegation to China and held high-level meetings with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The two sides finalized an in-depth cooperation plan covering the full industrial chain of digital infrastructure, jointly advancing the Digital Silk Road and the digital transformation goals of Saudi Vision 2030. The cooperation spans the complete industrial ecosystem. On hardware, the two sides will advance localized deployment of 5G base stations, submarine optical cables, satellite manufacturing and hyperscale data centers. In software sectors, joint development will focus on cloud computing, large AI models, industrial internet operating systems and smart city management platforms. Supporting measures include joint digital talent training, mutual recognition of technical standards and construction of local intelligent manufacturing production lines. Saudi Arabia stated it will leverage China’s mature digital technology and complete supply chains to build an independent and controllable domestic digital system and form a regional computing and communications hub in the Middle East. China encourages domestic tech and manufacturing enterprises to invest and set up factories in Saudi Arabia, participate in digital upgrading projects of NEOM and industrial cities, and connect cross-border digital links across Asia,...