At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman payed a state visit to China. The visit by the monarch, arguably the most strategically significant leg of his month-long Asia tour, comes as Riyadh has boosted its efforts to diversify the economy away from oil dependence, and broaden the Kingdom’s foreign partners. Although energy and trade will likely occupy an important place in the talks between the two leaders, the relations between both countries have expanded in various fields, especially in defense and security. Energy cooperation remains the foundation of relations between Saudi Arabia, the world’s top exporter of crude oil, and China, the world’s biggest importer. China’s oil consumption has risen dramatically from 2.9 million barrels per day (mbpd) in 1993 to 11.90 mbpd in 2016. Thus, oil imports have also rapidly increased, rising from zero percent in 1993 to more than 66 percent of China’s total oil supply, or around 7.6 mbpd last year....