In Depth: Historic Middle East Summits Cap Xi’s Year-End Diplomatic Push

The momentum of China’s head-of-state diplomacy campaign built to a grand finale in the Middle East as the year came to a close.

After attending G-20 and APEC summits in November, President Xi Jinping addressed the inaugural China-Arab States Summit and the China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh. He also made a state visit to the host nation from Dec. 7-10, six years after his last visit to the Middle East.