Tausi Insider

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the China-Arab summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Dec. 9. SAUDI PRESS AGENCY/Reuters President Xi Jinping told Gulf Arab leaders on Friday that China would work to buy oil and gas in yuan, a move that would support Beijing’s goal to establish its currency internationally and weaken the U.S. dollar’s grip on world trade. Xi was speaking in Saudi Arabia where Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hosted two “milestone” Arab summits with the Chinese leader which showcased the powerful prince’s regional heft as he courts partnerships beyond close historic ties with the West. Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and economic giant China both sent strong messages during Xi’s visit on “non-interference” at a time when Riyadh’s relationship with Washington has been tested over human rights, energy policy and Russia. Any move by Saudi Arabia to ditch the dollar in its oil trade would be a seismic political move, w...

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) shaking hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the China-Arab Summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh, on December 9, 2022. -/AFP/Getty Images Rashid Husain Syed is a Toronto-based journalist, consultant, and energy analyst who lived in Saudi Arabia for a quarter of a century. Ever since the deal in the ‘70s between Saudi Arabia and the United States, making the U.S. dollar the currency of global oil trade, the dollar has remained the dominant currency of the world. The arrangement meant any country buying oil, from Somalia and Ethiopia to Europe, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and China, all needed U.S. dollars. This ensured the dominance of U.S. dollars in the global financial system. Some media have speculated that one of the reasons behind the removals from power of Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gadhafi was the challenge they posed to using the U.S. dollar as the currency for their oil trade. With the rise of China as an emerging power and t...