In November, Saudi Arabia also signed a local currency swap agreement with China worth about $7bn. China is the largest customer of Saudi oil, purchasing 86mn tonnes of the fuel last year, part of which observers estimate, based on data from the People’s Bank of China, is settled in renminbi. “There is a hidden motivation for the increased investment relationship between China and Saudi Arabia,” said Chris Vassallo, a researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. “The kingdom is maybe sitting on a large pile of renminbi from selling oil to China, the uses of which are not manifold. One way is to spend on Chinese goods and services.”
