China and the challenges in the Middle East

Is the balance of power between China and the US changing in the Persian Gulf? Will China’s increasing economic interest in the Gulf lead to a more activist Chinese foreign and security policy there? What are the expectations the Arab Gulf States have of China, and will China meet them?

These questions have become still more urgent as China increases its influence in the Middle East as underlined by president Xi Jingping’s official visit in Cairo, Riyadh and Teheran this January with his vision of the One Belt, One Road plan.

In November 2015, DIIS in cooperation with University of Copenhagen organized a conference with participants from China, The Persian Gulf as well as from the US and Europe in order to seek answers for these questions and explore the relations between the Middle East and China and its ramifications for the global balance of power.

Six of the speakers at the conference have kindly summarized their main points on energy, security, great power interventions etc. in short articles presented in this new conference report published by DIIS.