China’s Xi vows to buy more Mideast oil as US focus wanes

Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed on Friday to import more oil and natural gas from energy-rich Gulf Arab states while not interfering in their affairs, likely seeking to cast Beijing in a more favorable light than Washington as America’s attention in the region wanes.

Xi also urged the Arab countries to conduct energy sales in the Chinese yuan, potentially divorcing the U.S. dollar from transactions in a region where the United States still stations thousands of troops across a network of local bases as a hedge against Iran.

China’s hands-off...