Solar panel giant JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (JKS.US; 688223.SH) has become the latest to jump on a Chinese export train that’s increasingly passing through the Middle East with a stop in Saudi Arabia, the region’s richest country that also has big clean energy ambitions.
The leading Chinese solar panel maker on Tuesday announced its formation of a $1 billion Saudi joint venture making cutting-edge solar products with two local partners. One of those, Renewable Energy Localization Co., is billed as the country’s “national champion in the manufacturing of renewable and green energy technologies,” and is wholly owned by Public Investment Fund, the country’s sovereign wealth fund. The other is Vision Industries Co., a Saudi investor focused on green energy technologies.
The tie-up ticks a number of boxes for both JinkoSolar and the Saudis and is part of a recent growing love affair between Chinese manufacturing and Saudi Arabian money.