Saudi Arabia has agreed to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a dialogue partner on Wednesday.
The Cabinet approved the decision at a meeting chaired by King Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
This move is seen to bring Saudi Arabia further away from the interests of the United States in addition to reducing dependence on the US dollar.
Generally, the SCO was established in 2001 as a political, economic and security organization to rival Western institutions.
Besides China, its eight members include India, Pakistan and Russia, as well as the four central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Iran joined the SCO as a permanent member last year.
This participation also marks another step towards strengthening ties between Beijing and Riyadh and expanding China's influence in the Middle East.
The move comes less than three weeks after the launch of a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran, brokered by China.
