Saudi oil giant Aramco has signed a five-year co-operation framework agreement (CFA) with the China National Building Material (CNBM) Group, a major producer of comprehensive building materials, to explore new opportunities in advanced materials and industrial development.

The duo has identified a number of areas for potential collaboration, including the possible establishment of manufacturing facilities in Saudi Arabia to produce wind turbine blades, hydrogen storage tanks, lower-carbon building materials, and energy storage solutions.

Other areas of focus include a potential new centre for training, inspection and accreditation, as well as a proposed joint technology development centre and laboratory to promote innovation.

Wail Al Jaafari, Aramco EVP of Technical Services, said: “We look forward to expanding our efforts with CNBM as we pursue new breakthroughs in materials science that have potential to deliver tangible benefits for the building sector and beyond.”

“From developing solutions that could reduce construction emissions to innovations that enhance product performance, our goal is to help drive the materials transition. By combining Aramco’s expertise in nonmetallic materials and CNBM’s industry know-how, we aim to identify groundbreaking advances and new business opportunities, as well as promote further development of manufacturing capabilities within Saudi Arabia,” he added.

Zhou Yuxian, CNBM Chairman, said: “We attach great importance to strategic cooperation with Aramco. This agreement combines CNBM’s and Aramco’s respective strengths with the goal of win-win cooperation. CNBM is seeking to promote a low-carbon transition through the nonmetallic materials industry. CNBM aims to complement Aramco’s efforts to advance the materials transition.”

This CFA builds on Aramco’s existing relationship with CNBM and follows the 2021 launch of the Nonmetallic Excellence and Innovation Center for Building Materials (Nexcel), in Beijing, by Aramco and the China Building Materials Academy (CBMA) — the science and technology branch of CNBM.