Saudi Arabia has selected China Railway-15 Bureau Group Corporation to build 200 new schools to accommodate 153,000 students in line with the Saudi King Abdullah's Project for the Development of General Education.

Speaking to the Media Line, Shafquat Ali, a senior editor at the Saudi newspaper Arab News, said that the Chinese firm had won the contract during a highly competitive tendering process, with its application outstripping even local firms such as the Saudi Bin Laden Group.

"I'm sure they have done their homework. It goes again to prove the Chinese-Saudi relationship," he said.

Under the remit of the general education project, Saudi authorities have spent $5.3 billion (£3.2 billion) on 3,500 initiatives to improve skills and learning infrastructure throughout the country.

Earlier this year, Saudi Aramco announced that it is to establish a new Upstream Development Training Centre in Dhahran in order to bridge the gap between classroom-based study and practical on-the-job training that will allow Saudis to succeed in the oil and gas industry.

Oil and Gas Directory: Training and Development