According to James M. Dorsey:
By deciding to visit the region – at a time that two of its major powers, are at loggerheads, Chinese President Xi Jinping has effectively acknowledged that increasingly China will be able to remain aloof to multiple crises in the Middle East.
Read more on his take on China’s potential role as mediator in the Middle East here: http://intpolicydigest.org/2016/01/21/middle-east-china-venturing-maelstrom/