Xi Will Visit Saudi Arabia, a Sign of China’s Growing Middle East Ties

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, will travel to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for a flurry of summit meetings bringing together heads of state from across the Middle East, a region where longtime American allies are growing increasingly close to China.

Mr. Xi’s visit to Saudi Arabia is aimed at deepening China’s decades-old ties with the Gulf region, which started narrowly as a bid to secure oil, and have since developed into a complex relationship involving arms sales, technology transfers and infrastructure projects.

“When countries in the Gulf think of their future,...