Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tarik signed 23 agreements worth several billion dollars in Beijing last week, from Huawei AI processors for Oman’s national cloud to a joint satellite program, on the first official visit by an Omani head of state since the two countries established diplomatic relations 48 years ago.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told Sultan Haitham Nov. 2 that the Middle East and Gulf region should avoid any great-power rivalry, and a joint statement from the two leaders called for restoring safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz while encouraging renewed U.S.-Iran negotiations.
Alongside the Sultan’s two days of talks with Communist Party leaders in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also met his Saudi and Iranian counterparts.
With the possibility of a wider U.S.-Iran conflict looming, each side has something the other needs: Beijing wants secure energy routes as the war squeezes Gulf shipping, and Muscat wants Chinese capital beyond oil and partners for its Arabian Sea ports outside the Hormuz chokepoint. For Washington, the question is how much Oman’s AI, satellite and financial infrastructure draws on Chinese technology.
The U.S. war with Iran has exposed China’s extraordinary dependence on Gulf shipping routes. Before the war, China bought around 90% of Iran’s sanctioned oil exports. Data from Kpler cited by The National showed China’s imports of Iranian crude through the Strait of Hormuz falling to an average of approximately 530,000 barrels per day in July and August, 48% below pre-war levels.
“Even if Beijing can’t control the outcome of this war, it would at least like to know that it can guarantee safe passage for its own shipping interests through the Strait of Hormuz,” said Henry Tugendhat, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
China is Oman’s largest trading partner and export market, and Oman ranks fourth among China’s Arab trading partners. According to MBN’s China tracker, crude made up between 93% to 100% of China’s imports from Omani ports each year through 2015, but only 71% in 2025.
Muscat therefore sees opportunity in offering access to Arabian Sea ports at Duqm and Salalah, far outside the Hormuz chokepoint driving up global oil prices.
“Visiting Beijing is a high-profile trip that Muscat can market as part of its portfolio of diversified international partnerships,” said Robert Mogielnicki, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute.
Beijing’s investment is increasingly focused on the Duqm Special Economic Zone, where around 35 projects are expected in the China-Oman Industrial City. In June, the zone announced $7.5 billion in Chinese investment, including a $500 million battery-anode project.
While much of the investment is in Oman’s energy sector, Mogielnicki stressed that Chinese capital and expertise were reaching well beyond oil.
Huawei’s AI processors are one example, he said. Under the deal, Omantel would deploy Huawei’s Ascend chips in Oman’s national cloud, which Huawei already built to keep the country’s data at home, giving Oman the hardware to train and run its own AI models.
MENA Analytica CEO Andreas Krieg told MBN the deal gives Oman advanced computing power. This allows it to avoid relying solely on American technology, but it makes it more dependent on Chinese tech.
Another initiative, the Space Silk Road satellite program, will have Chinese aerospace firm Star.Vision develop, launch and operate an initial seven satellites jointly with Oman, a step toward a satellite assembly and testing facility in Oman. In 2024, Oman launched its first locally developed optical OL-1 satellite with Chinese technology and support. The new program could boost Oman’s own maritime surveillance, environmental monitoring and intelligence gathering, but Krieg noted that such technology is dual use, so commercial cooperation can take on security significance.
Another major deal is a $418.7 million copper and gold mining contract for Chinese firm Hongda to operate one of Oman’s most important copper projects. Hongda will provide services rather than take ownership, but the deal gives China an operational presence in a sector increasingly important to industrial supply chains.
Beyond tech and infrastructure, China and Oman signed a five-year bilateral currency swap agreement worth $4.7 billion, aimed at facilitating cross-border digital payments and deepening financial cooperation.
Washington is unlikely to regard a Chinese mining contract or renewable-energy investment as a fundamental challenge to its relationship with Oman, said Krieg, but it has taken notice of Chinese influence in the sultanate before.
In November 2023, reports that Chinese military officials had discussed establishing a military facility in Oman drew concern from Washington. Last month, a report by Intelligence Online said the Royal Air Force of Oman was in talks on a deal for JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, designed and built by Chinese and Pakistani firms. Oman’s air force is equipped with U.S. F-16s and European Typhoons.
Tugendhat said China doesn’t want to replace the United States as the Gulf’s sole security provider. But with the U.S. at war with Iran, Oman’s challenge will be taking what it needs from Beijing in essential sectors without giving China a regional foothold that Washington cannot accept.
