Influence of the MENA Countries in China

Absztrakt

The Middle Eastern and North African (MENA)1 region nowadays enjoys an increasing amount of attention from around the world, especially China. As a gateway between Europe, Asia, and Africa, this region is of utmost geopolitical importance. Despite being valuable assets to world economy, they themselves – as of recently, largely due to regional military conflicts, political strife, ethnic tensions, and religious division –, are unable to assert their own interests towards great powers, such as China, however, they are not lacking potential. With the gradual withdrawal of the traditional great powers from the region, the stage is set for others, mainly China.
Although China is silently dominating the region, without the cooperation of the MENA countries, Beijing would certainly not be able to gain a foothold of any sort there. As about 50 percent of China’s oil imports stem from the Middle East, as the MENA region is in an important position for Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, and as the whole region offers a great and diverse market and plenty of room for investments, the Middle Eastern and North African countries are in a position to exploit their status of being valuable assets. They could grow from aspiring regional powers to great or even world powers should an agreement and eventual cooperation among them emerge.