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THE NEW SILK ROAD: CHINA’ ENERGY POLICYAND STRATEGY IN THE MENA REGION
SBE, Vol.20, No.1, 2017
ISSN 1818-1228
©Copyright 2017/College of Business and Economics,
Qatar University
The Silk Road Economic Belt is creating—or
at least offering the potential to create—new
shared benefits and common interests for China
and the countries in the region
47
. Related
to this, the Silk Road invigorates Chinese
investments in the region. Chinese and Middle
Eastern economies complement each other in
the field of merchandise trade, foreign direct
investment. China also has several investment
projects in the region, not only in energy,
but also other areas, such as transportation,
infrastructure. Under the definition contained
in Xi Jinping’s New Security Concept that
‘development equals security’, China’s One
Belt One Road initiative can be conceptualized
as both the most ambitious infrastructure and
security initiative today. Linking to the Road
and Belt project will enable member states to
not just compete for the benefits of increased
Chinese investments on their own territories,
but embed China’s initiative in their own
strategic goal of gaining a larger security
footprint in the Asian region
48
.
Overall, Hongtu summarizes China’s energy
security policy in three points. First, China
acts strategically with MENA. Not only does
China wish to import oil, but also to secure oil
provisions. Thus, China has increasingly been
involved in upstream investments and obtaining
equity oil in foreign enterprises. Second,
China’s oil companies are largely “instruments
of the State” and treated as “an arm of the
government’s international expansion”
49.
Finally, a growing dependence on Middle
Eastern oil has led China to rethink its policy
47 Miller, T. Investing Along the New Silk Road. Gavekal
Dragonomics. Ideas March 4.,2015. Pp25
48 Verlare Jikkie, In EU-China Security Ties;The One
Belt One Road Initiative. 2017, pp. 14 Available at: https://
www.clingendael.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/Thesis%20-%20Jikkie%20Verlare%20%20-%20A%20New%20
Opportunity%20In%20EU-China%20Security%20
Ties-%20The%20One%20Belt%20One%20Road%20
Initiative.pdf
49 Hongtu, “China’s Energy Interest,” pp. 54-55.
and strategy by exploring new energy sources
in North Africa, and to adjust its international
behaviour to ensure that its domestic interests
do not come in conflicts with its foreign policy,
especially with regards to the United States.
As the great hegemonic power of the last
century, the United States has extensive
interests in virtually all energy-rich regions
of the world. Thus, similar to its involvement
in the Middle East, China is very conscious
of American interests and wishes to maintain
good relations
50
. However, tensions have
heightened since the 2000s. Following pure
economic interests, China has repeatedly
disregarded the international community’s
attempts to undermine NorthAfrican dictatorial
regimes with poor human rights records.
Despite being optimistic regarding U.S./China
relations, U.S. House of International Relations
Committee Representative Christophe Smith
still expressed some concerns stating in 2005:
“the Chinese intend to aid and abet African
dictators” and “gain a stranglehold on precious
African natural resources.”
51
One of China’s great advantages compared to
Western private oil companies in North Africa
is the fact that most Chinese oil companies are
state-owned. Consequently, China is able to
outbid competitors in major contracts without
the short-term concerns of private companies
that are bound by considerations of profits
and shareholders
52
. Overall, China also has a
political advantage because it is not associated
with colonialism and imperialism. In North
Africa, unlike the scramble for Africa led
by the European powers two centuries ago,
“economic engagement is accompanied by
investment in and upgrading of infrastructure
and transport facilities, which are central to
50 Raine (2009)
51 Zhao, (2007), pp. 408.
52 Taylor (2006)