China’s ties with the Middle East started strengthening after 2001. The number of Arab traders visiting China surged around this time. Yiwu, a small Chinese coastal town south of Shanghai, receives 200,000 Arab visitors annually. It is a virtual Arab market town. China’s exports to the Middle East have since surged, and it overtook the United States in 2008 as the world’s largest exporter to the region.

The relationship is not only about what China sells to the Middle East, but also what it buys. China imports half its oil from the Middle East. Its dependence will only grow in time as domestic oil production peaks. By 2030, the Middle East is expected to provide every two out of three barrels oil that China consumes. The upshot is that China is starting to take a new interest in the Middle East’s security.

There are other security concerns for China. Keep a close watch eye on the Gulf of Aden. Somali pirates have already provided China with a reason to participate in a naval flotilla. Talk of naval bases is growing. Were Yemen to fall apart, much of China’s trade with Europe would find itself squeezed between failed states. And that matters because Europe is China’s largest trading partner.

Islam is a more delicate topic. But also easily misunderstood. China’s Muslim population is targeting the Middle East as a potential market for Halal food and Muslim clothing. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, while speaking at the Arab League Headquarters in Cairo last year, was keen to emphasize that fact that China has 35,000 mosques and requires Halal food to be served in public offices.