China's Premier Wen Jiabao will visit three key Middle Eastern oil and gas suppliers – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – from the weekend, amid signs that Beijing wants to expand its options in the face of US sanctions aimed at Iran. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Wen would meet host leaders, including King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to “thoroughly exchange views on developing bilateral relations and on international and regional issues of common concern”. Wen's six-day trip comes while Iran faces tightening Western sanctions over its nuclear program. Beijing faces pressure to go along with the US sanctions by cutting what it pays for Iranian oil, if not the volume it buys. China already cut oil imports from Iran in January and February in a dispute over contract terms, and has been looking for alternative supplies. Wen's talks are sure to cover, at least in general terms, energy cooperation with his Middle Eastern hosts, said Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University in east China. “On any visit to the Middle East, these issues will be discussed,” Lin told Reuters by telephone. “Generally, there will be something that comes out of a visit like this, because a visit by a premier is not your average visit,” he said of discussions on oil and gas. China bought a combined 1.15 million barrels per day (bpd) from these three nations in the first 11 months of 2011, customs data showed, nearly a quarter of its total crude imports. US President Barack Obama recently authorized a law imposing sanctions on financial institutions that deal with Iran's central bank, its main clearinghouse for oil exports.
