Mecca monorail deal marks Saudi visit by China's Hu

by Paul Handley

RIYADH (AFP) – China has won a contract to build a monorail near Islam's holiest city of Mecca to ferry pilgrims between key religious sites during the hajj, or annual Muslim pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia announced.

The 1.8 billion dollar deal, finalized during Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Saudi Arabia, is the second rail project in a week involving Mecca to be awarded to a Chinese railway builder.

The latest agreement, underscoring China's growing role as a key contractor for infrastructure in the oil-rich kingdom, was signed late Tuesday by China Railway Corp and Prince Miteb bin Abdulaziz, head of the commission for developing the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

On Friday, a consortium including China Railway Engineering won a civil works contract, also worth 1.8 billion dollars, for a 444-kilometer (275-mile) high-speed railway to link Mecca and Medina via Jeddah.

As a dense sandstorm enveloped Riyadh on Wednesday morning, the Chinese leader visited Riyadh Cement company, which has just contracted China's Sinoma International Engineering to expand its production lines.

In the afternoon, Hu was to meet with Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdulrahman Hamad al-Attiyah to discuss trade liberalization measures, GCC officials said.

The Mecca mass transit deal was one of several announced on Hu's visit, highlighting the growing role of China in Saudi Arabia's plan to undertake 450 billion riyals (120 billion dollars) in major infrastructure, education and new cities projects over the next five years.

On Wednesday the Saudi group ACWA Power International, which builds power and desalinization plants, announced a partnership with Shanghai Electric Power Generation Group to work together on two projects, one inside Saudi Arabia and another in an undisclosed country in the region.

The monorail project will link Mecca with the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, which are visited by massive tides of pilgrims during the hajj, the state news agency SPA said.

The project is set to be completed over four years, but will be ready to operate at 35 percent capacity for the hajj of late 2010, SPA said.

According to media reports, the project comprises four elevated tracks intended to carry up to 20,000 passengers an hour.

The Mecca rail link was one of a number of deals signed on Tuesday as Hu and his entourage met with Saudi King Abdullah and leaders of the Saudi government.

"China-Saudi Arabia ties have developed rapidly and reached an all-time high since the heads of states exchanged their visits in 2006," Hu said, according to China's Xinhua news agency.

The two sides also signed an agreement covering cooperation in developing and trade in oil, natural gas, petrochemicals and minerals late Tuesday as China seeks to secure long-term natural resource supplies for its giant economic machine, SPA said.

China is already one of the top buyers of oil from Saudi Arabia, importing 36 million tonnes of Saudi crude in 2008, according to Chinese figures.

Chinese firms are also exploring for new oil deposits inside Saudi Arabia together with the kingdom's state oil company Aramco.

Hu is on the second day of a three-day visit to shore up economic relations and discuss energy supplies with the world's top oil exporter.

He was scheduled to depart Wednesday and travel to Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius as part of efforts to strengthen China's relations with the African continent, an important source of minerals and other raw materials for China and a growing market for Chinese exports.