BY HARUMENDHAH HELMY AND CHARESSE JAMES

ANCHOR NATHAN BYRNE

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is on a week-long tour of the Middle East, and his first stop is Saudi Arabia. According to AFP, Saudi Arabia and China have signed economic agreements and a cooperation agreement for the, quote, “peaceful use of nuclear energy.” Al Jazeera further explains the visit.

“ ... it comes as Iran continues to threaten to block the critical shipping passage, the Strait of Hormuz, and as Arab uprise shake the region’s stability. But for China this visit is really about one thing - oil: where to get it and how to keep it.”

Right now, Iran is China’s third-biggest supplier of foreign oil. euronews says situations in the Middle East are forcing China to start thinking about energy alternatives -- that China is ...

“ … thought to be concerned about future supplies amid international tension over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear work.”

Arab News details the make up of the high-profile Saudi Arabia visit — tying it with the U.S. Secretary of Treasury’s push to increase sanctions on Iran.

“Wen’s visit to Saudi Arabia … is the first by a Chinese premier in 20 years. Wen is accompanied by a huge contingent of high-ranking officials, bureaucrats and businessmen. His trip comes during an intense debate in Asia over oil supplies, prompted by US moves to impose sanctions on Iran, a mainstay of East Asia's energy supply.”

U.S. Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner made a visit to Beijing earlier this month to seek support for further international sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. The U.S. and other Western nations believe Iran will use oil profits to fund nuclear efforts.