Chinese local governments are wooing Middle Eastern and Asian sovereign wealth funds as they struggle to raise money at home to stimulate economic development after the pandemic.Local government officials have held high-level meetings with the Qatar Investment Authority, subsidiaries of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, according to wealth fund officials, business executives and Chinese local government officials briefed on and involved in the discussions.
Other Asian state investors, including Singapore’s GIC, have also fielded approaches about opportunities.
The meetings underscore the deepening economic and diplomatic ties between China and the Middle East, a region that has traditionally been a US sphere of influence. They also come as global investors attempt to secure Middle Eastern cash, with Gulf nations flush with petrodollars after last year’s oil boom.