"The Chinese government has been encouraging its state-owned enterprises to expand overseas as part of its "going out staragegy", but one comapny, China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), has found that venturing abroad can be difficult." from South China Morning Post

"China's relationship with Saudi Arabia was central to its huge demand for oil, Williamson added. Last year, China overtook the US as the biggest importer of Saudi oil.

About 90 Chinese companies do business in Saudi Arabia, including 70 construction firms employing 20,000 Chinese people, according to a study by John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi in Riyadh. National Commercial Bank, the largest Saudi bank, said in the first half of this year that Saudi non-oil exports to China had jumped 58 per cent to account for a third of all the country's exports other than oil."