Chinese leaders welcomed Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu to Beijing on Wednesday, hard on the heels of the Palestinian president, in a piece of diplomatic choreography that has highlighted the country's growing interest in the Middle East.

Premier Li Keqiang told the Israeli leader he anticipated exchanging views on regional issues such as the peace process as well as bilateral co-operation, as they met in the Great Hall of the People. Li and Chinese president Xi Jinping met Mahmoud Abbas two days earlier, while Netanyahu was in Shanghai.

The unusual overlapping visits prompted speculation about China's possible role as a mediator, particularly after the Foreign Ministry expressed willingness to arrange a meeting if the two men wished. State media also heralded Chinese president Xi Jinping's announcement of a four-point peace plan.

"It is not the first time China has made efforts on this issue, but it is the first time our leader clearly set out four proposals on this in public," said Li Guofu, director of the Middle East Studies Centre at the China Institutes of International Studies.

But Abbas left Beijing before Netanyahu arrived in the capital. Israeli officials had already briefed that the two men would not meet, and have focused on the commercial aspect of the trip. And the contents of Xi's plan are familiar from previous Chinese statements.

"My impression is that this is a giant exercise in intentional ambiguity by all parties. It's very well-choreographed and quite vacuous in terms of substantial results," said Robert Bianchi, visiting research professor at the National University of Singapore and an expert on China and the Middle East.

"The story is bigger than the day … It's more about China and its larger diplomatic weight, particularly in the Middle East and Islamic world."

Yin Gang, one of the country's best-known Middle East experts, even suggested the twin visits were a coincidence: the Israelis had called off two previous trips and this is the height of China's diplomatic season, he noted.

"China is not the key mediator. China plays an assisting role," he added.

Beijing's trade with the Middle East – and especially its thirst for oil – has expanded substantially in recent years and increased its desire for stability there.

"China has for a long time firmly supported Palestine … The Palestinian people trust China. [But] China also maintains a friendly relationship with Israel," said Li Guofu.

Its economic links with Israel are burgeoning; bilateral trade has grown to around $8bn annually. China has become a prime customer for Israeli technology, pointed out Bianchi, and Li and Netanyahu signed fresh deals on Wednesday.

The bigger picture, Bianchi noted, is that "there's a lot of horsetrading between Washington and Beijing over Middle East and Asian issues … As China sees the effectiveness of that it has a greater incentive to be more omnipresent in the Middle East – especially as the US starts to sniff around China's sphere of influence in the Western Pacific. China is starting to return the favour."

Its expression of keenness to help resolve the conflict, he added, is also "a very clear refutation of the notion it doesn't have diplomacy or responsibility and is a free-rider not interested in being a 'good world citizen'."

Shi Yinhong, a foreign relations scholar at Renmin University, suggested the dual visits could be the beginning of a "much more prominent role" for China on the issue. He said Beijing might also be looking for positive ways of working with Washington, which has been seeking to revive the peace process, at a time of strained bilateral relations.

US secretary of state, John Kerry, said on Wednesday that he would be returning to the Middle East in two weeks time for further talks.

Other analysts believe that Beijing will be reluctant to become too deeply embroiled in the conflict.

Kerry Brown of the University of Sydney said: "I guess [this week] gives them good political capital with America and it isn't a big risk for them. It's a relatively easy good news story for China – but I can't see any reason for it to get too involved."