Nicholas Lyall, an Amman-based freelance research consultant on Middle East affairs and conflict systems, is currently completing project work on Syria for the Gaziantep, Turkey-based Operations and Policy Center think tank, and a Peking University Yenching Scholar examining China’s growing engagement in the Levant.
He told The Media Line that accessing energy supplies is the driving force behind China’s relations with the Middle East.
Chen-Che Hsu, a policy analyst at the Access Partnership public policy consultancy, told The Media Line that over the last decade, we have witnessed a notable increase in Chinese investment in the region following the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
“This is reflected in the dramatic increase in China’s outward FDI [foreign direct investment] in the MENA region from $7 billion in 2012 to nearly $24 billion in 2020,” he said. READ MORE
