China’s President Xi Jinping said in Riyadh on Friday that China and Gulf nations should make full use of the Shanghai Petroleum and National Gas Exchange as a platform to carry out yuan settlement of oil and gas trade.

China and states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are natural partners for cooperation, Xi said in a speech at the China-GCC summit.

In his speech, Xi proposed various areas for cooperation in the next three to five years, including energy, finance and investment, innovation and new technologies, as well as aerospace, and language and cultures.