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BEIJING: Housing Minister Majid Al-Hogail and the Chinese vice minister of commerce on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two governments for cooperation in the area of housing, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The MoU coincides with the visit of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the People’s Republic of China.
The Saudi minister also signed another MOU between the Ministry of Housing and the Government of the Ningxia Region, for the development of Al-Asfar District in Al-Ahsa and construction of 100,000 housing units with all required service facilities.
The deal also included the establishment of a joint company in the Kingdom to implement the housing project in Al-Ahsa.
In a press statement, the Saudi minister said the MOUs with the Chinese companies come as an extension of other deals with local and global real estate development companies, with the intent of increasing housing supplies and providing products with high quality at affordable prices.
Giving more details on the new project, the minister said Al-Asfar District, in Al-Ahsa, occupies an area of 54 million square meters, where some 100,000 housing units will be built, including high quality villas and apartments with different options.
This step comes in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, and demonstrates the keen interest of the two governments to bolster cooperation between the two countries in all areas including housing, expanding investments, activating business and commercial facilities, and achieving joint development and prosperity, he said.
He stressed that the ministry would continue signing with reputed real estate development firms to benefit from their experiences in developing housing projects of highly technical specifications that would meet aspirations of the ministry and citizens as well.
He said housing projects, carried out with private sector companies, would cover all parts of the Kingdom.
The ministry aims to find partnerships in the area of housing to develop and transfer new building technologies, train cadres to operate and maintain them, encourage investors to implement projects and real estate development companies to enter housing programs, he said.