The National Housing Company (NHC) of Saudi Arabia has forged a strategic partnership with CITIC Construction, a prominent Chinese construction company. The alliance’s objective is to establish an industrial city and dedicated logistics zones for building materials in the Kingdom, which will include 12 new manufacturing plants.
This development was solidified during the official trip of Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs, and Housing, Majed bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, to China.
NHC’s CEO, Mohammed bin Saleh Albuty, was present during this pivotal moment, further cementing the Saudi-China bilateral cooperation.
Securing quality supply chains
This joint venture aims to ensure a reliable and stable supply chain for NHC’s housing projects, promoting their completion with both timeliness and excellence in quality. NHC envisions that this initiative will involve 12 key factories specializing in various building materials, leveraging the extensive expertise of Chinese manufacturers.
This strategic move is anticipated to strengthen the local industry, integrating numerous domestic factories and raising operational standards to align with international best practices. The new industrial city and its associated logistics zones are expected to amplify the economic and developmental benefits within the Kingdom’s real estate industry.
Strengthening Saudi-China relations
The collaboration between NHC and CITIC Construction is intended to improve the quality and efficiency of residential projects, as well as to support the national transformation of the construction sector. The facilities are meticulously planned to aid Chinese factories in localizing the production of building materials in Saudi Arabia.
These facilities will offer essential growth avenues for medium and small local factories, establish direct production lines for NHC’s projects, and encourage further advancement in the local building materials market, thus opening up new employment opportunities.
The project also falls in line with the overarching strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia and China, which was reinforced during the Chinese President’s visit to Saudi Arabia in December 2022. The agreement includes an action plan that builds on a prior memorandum of cooperation between the two countries focused on the housing sector, aiming to elevate the quality of housing units and general construction standards.
