From NPR:
When Saudi Arabia’s newly crowned King Abdullah set off on his first foreign visit in 2005 as leader of the largest oil producer on the planet, his destination was not the world’s largest oil importer and only superpower, the United States. Instead, in what some saw as a harbinger of a new era, he visited China.
And while the king has his own plane, he followed a popular route: There are now at least twice as many flights between the Gulf region and China than there are between the Gulf and the United States.
With a booming economy fueling a voracious demand for energy, China is soon expected to eclipse the United States as the leading oil importer — with the majority of that oil coming from the Middle East.
Read also U.A.E.’s growing relationship with China from CNN.
