Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Today, on 29 March, the Cabinet of Ministers of Saudi Arabia approved the decision to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). This decision was made on the basis of Riyadh's long-term partnership with Beijing.

Saudi Arabia has approved a memorandum on granting the kingdom the status of a dialogue partner of the SCO. The entry was discussed during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Saudi Arabia in December last year.

Dialogue partner status will be the first step in the organization before the kingdom is granted full membership in the medium term.

The decision follows an announcement by oil and gas company Saudi Aramco to increase its multi-billion dollar investment in China. It is planned to build a joint oil refinery and petrochemical enterprise in the north-east of the country.