Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s Aramco signed a five-year cooperation framework agreement (CFA) with the China National Building Material Group Company (CNBM) to explore new opportunities in advanced materials and industrial development.

The agreement identified several areas for collaboration, including the establishment of manufacturing facilities in the Kingdom to produce wind turbine blades, hydrogen storage tanks, lower-carbon building materials, and energy storage solutions, a recent statement unveiled.

Both parties will also join efforts to set up a new center for training, inspection, and accreditation, as well as a proposed joint technology development center and laboratory to promote innovation. 

Wail Al Jaafari, EVP of Technical Services at Aramco, said: “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 the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

Meanwhile, Zhou Yuxian, Chairman of CNBM, stated that the collaboration with Aramco will allow the company to promote a low-carbon transition through the nonmetallic materials industry.

“By leveraging our work in low-carbon integrated solutions, CNBM aims to complement Aramco’s efforts to advance the materials transition,” Yuxian added.

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.