Saudi Arabia will send one of the biggest official delegations to this week’s “Summer Davos” in China, as Beijing deepens co-operation with the Middle East to reboot the world’s second-largest economy after three years of Covid-19 lockdowns.

The attendance of the 24-strong delegation, which will include six ministers and vice-ministers, at the first in-person World Economic Forum event in China in three years comes as the two countries seek alternative investment partners to the west.

Saudi Arabia’s delegation at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, which will be held in the northeastern port city of Tianjin and is colloquially known as the Summer Davos, will be led by economy and planning minister Faisal Alibrahim and communications and information technology minister Abdullah Alswaha.