The growing commercial corridor between Asia and the Middle East has moved up another notch with a brace of agreements inked between major Chinese and Saudi Arabian institutions.

Shanghai-based renewable energy group Envision Energy has unveiled a strategic joint venture (JV) with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Vision Industries (VI), while fellow Shanghai firm and solar module manufacturer JinkoSolar has announced it has entered into a shareholder agreement with Renewable Energy Localization Company (RELC), a wholly owned subsidiary of PIF and VI.

Jinko, RELC and VI have agreed to form a JV in Saudi Arabia with Jinko Middle East, RELC and VI holding 40%, 40% and 20% equity interest, respectively. The JV, the partners say, will build and operate a high-efficiency solar cell and solar module manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia.

The manufacturing facility is expected to have a total investment amount of approximately US$1 billion and will be funded through a combination of its internal funds and external financing. And, upon completion, it is expected to achieve an annual production capacity of 10 gigawatts.

The JV between Envision Energy, the PIF and VI meanwhile will aim to accelerate the wind power growth throughout the Middle East and help accelerate the region towards cleaner, more sustainable energy sources. It will focus on manufacturing and assembling wind turbines and components, including blades, nacelles and hubs.

Under their agreement, Envision Energy holds the majority share in the JV, while PIF and VI hold the remainder. The collaboration will support Saudi Arabia’s goal of localizing 75% of renewable energy components by 2030, in line with the Saudi Ministry of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Programme.

In an effort to wean itself off fossil fuels Saudi Arabia is building some of the world’s largest renewable power plants.

The PIF, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, which has about US$925 billion in assets, is committed to the kingdom's energy transformation by investing in renewable energy initiatives, including wind power, solar, hydrogen and energy storage.

Saudi Arabia, according to reference website Worldometer, sits on about 16.2% of the world's total oil reserves; and, without net exports, there would still be about 221 years of oil left at current consumption levels.