Why Is the King Going to China Now?

It would be easy to view the royal visit to China through the lens of traditional bilateral relations: strengthening economic cooperation, attracting investment, signing agreements, and opening new opportunities for Chinese companies in Jordan.

This is certainly an essential part of the visit, but limiting it to the economic dimension fails to explain its political significance, particularly as it comes at one of the most turbulent moments in the region.

The Middle East is undergoing a reshaping of security and power dynamics, while Jordan, geographically positioned at the heart of these developments, needs to work in multiple directions to safeguard its security, borders, and airspace, preserve the stability of its neighborhood, and confront the Israeli project in the West Bank in order to protect its interests linked to the Palestinian issue.

The visit certainly does not signal that Jordan is shifting from one international camp to another. However, Jordan’s national interests require that neither its economy nor its political relations be dependent on a single international direction.

China is now a major economic and political power, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and a country with extensive relations with Iran, the Gulf states, Israel, and the Arab world. Deepening ties with China therefore represents a significant addition to Jordan’s network of international relations.

Economically, China is a major trading partner for Jordan, but Jordan’s more important objective is to transform a greater share of China’s economic strength into investment inside the Kingdom, generating production, exports, and jobs.

Jordan needs to convince Chinese companies that the Kingdom is not merely a market of 12 million consumers, but a production platform from which they can access wider markets, benefiting from Jordan’s geographic location, trade agreements, political stability, and educated workforce.

China has also become a global competitor in electric vehicles, batteries, solar energy, artificial intelligence, telecommunications, smart cities, and industrial technology.

These are sectors in which Jordan needs to attract and localize greater investment and expertise.

The Palestinian issue also remains the matter most directly connected to Jordan’s national interests. Israeli settlement expansion, the escalating violence by settlers, and attempts to alter the status quo in the West Bank and Jerusalem are issues directly linked to Jordan’s national security.

Jordan therefore needs to build the broadest possible international coalition to confront policies aimed at ending the two-state solution, particularly as China’s declared position converges with Jordan’s position on several fundamental points.

It is in Jordan’s interest to turn China’s broadly aligned positions into more regular diplomatic cooperation within the United Nations and other international institutions, particularly in confronting settlement expansion, displacement, and any attempts to impose a new reality in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Regarding Iran, Jordan’s primary interest is to ensure that any threats that could target its territory cease, that its sovereignty is respected, and that Iraq or any other regional front does not become a platform for threatening the Kingdom’s security.

China is one of the few countries that maintains deep relations with both Tehran and the Arab world, a position that Jordanian diplomacy can make use of.

The security of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman is not a distant issue for Jordan either.

There are deep economic, investment, and people-to-people ties, while any major instability in the Gulf quickly affects the Jordanian economy through energy, trade, investment, workers’ remittances, and transportation routes. Jordan and China therefore share an interest in preventing the Gulf from becoming a permanent arena of conflict.

The same applies to Syria. Jordan wants Syria to be stable, capable of securing its borders, preventing arms and drug smuggling, and preventing the emergence of extremist groups, while creating the conditions necessary for the return of refugees and reconstruction.

Syria’s continued fragility means an ongoing security, economic, and political cost for the Kingdom.

Accordingly, it is in Amman’s interest for Beijing to become part of an international effort to help Syria move from a state of conflict toward state-building and economic recovery.

The royal visit comes at a time when others are attempting to shape the future of the Middle East, and countries should not wait for others to determine that future on their behalf.

China is a major power with interests, influence, and relations with almost all sides.

It is therefore in Jordan’s interest to develop a deeper relationship with Beijing than it has had in the past.