SINCE he took over as China’s leader in 2012, Xi Jinping has been a busy globetrotter. Last year he visited more countries than Barack Obama, the American president. Heedless of whether his hosts are powerful, puny or pariah, he has flown everywhere from America to the Maldives and Zimbabwe. Mr Xi’s aim is to project China’s rising power—and his central role in promoting that—to both foreign and domestic audiences. But until this week, he had not set foot as president in the Middle East.
The trip, still under way as The Economist went to press, began in Saudi Arabia (whose king, Salman bin Abdul Aziz, is pictured with Mr Xi) and will also include visits to Egypt and Iran. It is long overdue. No Chinese president had toured the region since 2009. They had worried about getting embroiled in the region’s intractable disputes. But China has a big stake in the Middle East. It is the world’s largest oil importer and gets more than half of its crude from the region. It is the main trading partner for many Middle Eastern countries, including the three on Mr Xi’s itinerary. Mr Xi’s much ballyhooed “new Silk Route”, aimed at linking China and Europe...Continue reading
Source: China http://ift.tt/1Qet2Wf
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