CEO remarks at the 2021 China Development Forum

Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, wǎn shàng hǎo and good evening.

Your Excellency, thank you for sharing your insights, and reminding us that better days are coming.

Because of President Xi’s visionary leadership, and the resilience and determination of the Chinese people, China’s economy is recovering faster than anywhere else.

Indeed, we congratulate China on meeting its first centennial goal.

Achievements like alleviating absolute poverty and doubling the GDP per capita of Chinese citizens in just over a decade are truly remarkable.

Future Economic Development

But this landmark moment only sets the stage for even more ambitious economic development.

Being a top supplier of China’s energy needs, Aramco is well-placed to help China achieve its second centennial goal.

We also appreciate that sustainable energy solutions are crucial to a faster and smoother global energy transition.

So are realistic roadmaps and practical priorities.

One priority is developing new energy infrastructure, and fixing the technical and economic challenges new sources of energy face.

But, realistically, this will take some time since there are few alternatives to oil in many areas.

That is why we believe new and existing energy sources will need to run in parallel for quite some time to come.

To support the aims of the Paris Agreement during this interim period, the practical implication is therefore clear.

We must further reduce the carbon footprint of these important existing sources of energy.

It is an essential worldwide mission for economies and societies, and the future of our planet.

And it is precisely what we are doing at Aramco.

Three Overlapping Priorities

In turn, we believe that our priorities overlap with China’s in three key areas.

First, ensuring the continuing security of China’s energy needs remains our highest priority – not just for the next five years but for the next 50 and beyond.

Second, we see opportunities for further investments in integrated downstream projects to help meet China’s needs for heavy transport and chemicals, as well as lubricants and non-metallic materials.

Third, to help China meet its innovation, modernization, and sustainability goals, Aramco’s Research Center in Beijing is already working with Chinese universities and companies in areas like:

• Cleaner engine-fuel systems of the future;
• Catalytic Crude to Chemicals technology;
• And focusing heavily on reducing and removing greenhouse gas emissions.

In fact, we have even bolder ambitions to expand and intensify our research collaboration with China.

Additional collaboration is likely on blue hydrogen from hydrocarbon resources and low carbon products; blue ammonia; synthetic fuels; carbon capture, utilization, and storage; and materials science.

All of these are essential to achieving our long-term, low carbon ambitions.

Ladies and Gentlemen, as a new era begins, we look forward to contributing even more to China’s economic development and common prosperity.

Everything from the 14th Five Year Plan, Dual Circulation, and Belt and Road to peak greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, 2035 Goals, the 2nd Centennial Goal by 2049, and net carbon neutrality by 2060.

And every step of the way we aim to be side-by-side with our Chinese partners, delivering these strategic, value-adding, parallel priorities.

Thank you, and xiè xiè.