Audio: Gulf Roundtable: The New Silk Road

This is the audio for event "Gulf Roundtable: The New Silk Road". For the first time in modern history, China has surpassed the United States as the largest exporter to the Middle East, with revenues totaling around $60 billion per year. Ben Simpfendorfer, chief China Economist for the Royal Bank of Scotland, suggests that the figure reflects a “historical rebalancing” in the global economy and that China-Middle East ties will continue to grow. Simpfendorfer offered his assessment at a Gulf Roundtable hosted by the CSIS Middle East Program on September 15, 2009.