Oman and China Sign 23 Bilateral Deals Spanning Tech, Mining, and Finance

Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tarik signed 23 bilateral agreements worth several billion dollars during an official state visit to Beijing, Alhurra reported. The pacts span technology, energy, and infrastructure, marking the first official visit to China by an Omani head of state in 48 years of diplomatic relations.

Among the tech accords, Omantel will deploy Huawei Ascend artificial intelligence processors into Oman's national cloud to provide hardware for training and running domestic AI models. Additionally, Chinese aerospace company Star.Vision will jointly develop, launch, and operate an initial fleet of seven satellites with Oman under the Space Silk Road satellite initiative.

In the financial and industrial sectors, China and Oman established a five-year bilateral currency swap agreement valued at $4.7 billion to facilitate cross-border digital transactions. In mining, Chinese firm Hongda secured a $418.7 million service contract to operate an Omani copper project.

The agreements also reflect growing Chinese investment in the Duqm Special Economic Zone outside the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly 35 projects are anticipated in the China-Oman Industrial City. In June, the zone announced $7.5 billion in Chinese commitments, including a $500 million battery-anode facility.