China's President Xi Jinping has called for energy sales in the Chinese yuan, a move which would weaken the US dollar's grip on world trade and establish yuan internationally.

Xi also said the Shanghai Petroleum and National Gas Exchange should be used by China and other countries to settle oil and gas trades in yuan.

China will establish bilateral investment and economic cooperation working mechanisms, carry out local currency swap cooperation and deepen digital currency cooperation, he added.

The Chinese leader made the remarks in his Friday address to the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit hosted by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in Riyadh.

A Saudi source speaking before Xi's visit had been cited as saying that a decision to sell small amounts of oil in yuan to China could make sense in order to pay Chinese imports directly.

Any move by Saudi Arabia to ditch the dollar in its oil trade would be a seismic political move, which Riyadh had previously threatened in the face of possible US legislation exposing OPEC members to antitrust lawsuits.