THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF CHINA’S MIDDLE EAST POLICY

Abstract

China, one of the five permanent members with veto power in the UN Security Council, has the world's second largest economy by nominal GDP (gross domestic product). As a result of economic reforms carried out in the 1980s in connection with the transition to an "open economy", China's economy has grown to one of the largest and most powerful in the world over the past few decades. On the basis of economic development, China's growing demand for energy has increased its interest in the Middle East. China tries to ensure energy security by strengthening its economic and political relations with the regional countries under "soft policy". Relations between China and Middle Eastern countries have been further developed according to the multi-trillion dollar Initiative “Belt and Road”. The program connecting Asia with Africa and Europe through land and sea routes was announced in 2013 by Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping. The PRC, having strengthened its influence in the Middle East mainly economically, gradually seems more active in politics and security field in the region. This question has raised a question in the minds that China will replace the US in the Middle East. This article discusses only the economic side of China's Middle Eastern policy, especially its cooperation with countries across this region in the energy and trade field.