One of us, Angela, grew up hearing stories of Saudi Arabia from her father, an electrical engineer who helped set up telecommunications in the desert in the 1970s. For Curtis, the connection came in the 1980s at the start of his career when he was assigned to a team supporting a long-standing client,

Mandarin, spoken by over a billion people, was increasingly recognised as a global language of significance. Following Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to China in 2019, he had announced the plan to introduce the language into schools across the nation.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, on Friday lowered crude oil prices for Asian buyers in April for the first time in three months, in line with market expectations and after OPEC+ agreed to gradually increase supply in the same month.

Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, US-Saudi relations have started getting back on track. Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, has confirmed that Saudi Arabia will host a high-level meeting next week between U.S. and Ukrainian officials to discuss the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

The Chinese national team will play two matches in the final qualifiers for the 2026 North American World Cup Asia region during the A Matches in March. After an away match against Saudi Arabia on the 20th, they will face Australia at home on the 25th.

As if that weren’t enough, two center backs responsible for China’s defense have been injured. National team defenders Zhu Chenjie and Zhang Shenglong from Shanghai Shenhua suffered facial injuries in the Asian Champions League. In particular, Zhu Chenjie has a facial fracture and is expected to be unavailable for 6 to 8 weeks.

Al-Harbi, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to China (center) pose for a group picture at the Saudi Founding Day 2025 celebration in Beijing, on February 25, 2025. Photo: mfa.gov.cn The Embassy of Saudi Arabia in China hosted the Saudi Founding Day 2025 celebration in Beijing on February 25.

Mandarin's entry into public schools is the latest sign of growing ties between Saudi Arabia and China, as the oil-rich Gulf kingdom pushes to diversify its economy and strategic alliances. "The pupils at the other schools are proficient in English. I know Arabic, English and Chinese, which is a great asset for my future," Shaalan said.

Whatever the U.S. intentions, the outcome of the Russia-U.S. dialogue would be beneficial for China.

Saudi Arabia's non-oil private sector continued its robust expansion in February, driven by strong customer sales and increased activity levels, a survey showed on Tuesday, although the pace of growth slowed from the previous month.