How do you view His Highness the Amir’s visit to China to attend the Beijing Winter Olympics?
In the evening of February 4, the Olympic flame was once again lit in Beijing’s “Bird’s Nest” stadium. Upon the invitation of President Xi Jinping, His Highness the Amir attended the opening ceremony of Beijing Winter Olympics and witnessed together the grand opening of the Winter Games. His Highness’s visit to China is of great significance to China-Qatar relations and the Olympic cause. It is a historical visit. His Highness’s visit to China is unprecedented, with three unique factors: His Highness is the only guest who is both a head of and an IOC member from Asia, the only head of state from the Gulf region, and the only state leader in the Middle East to have attended both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. We believe the visit of His Highness will leave a remarkable record in the history of Olympics and China-Qatar relations.
It is also a visit of unity. The official motto for Beijing 2022 is “Together for a Shared Future”, which illustrates the spirit of “together” in the new Olympic motto. The visit of His Highness to China fully demonstrates the firm support from the international community for the Beijing Winter Olympics and sends a strong signal that China and Qatar will work together under Olympic spirit and oppose politicisation of sports. I am confident that with the support of Qatar, the Winter Olympics will become a new symbol of solidarity and bring more confidence and courage to the world for a better future.
It is a visit of friendship. President Xi Jinping and His Highness the Amir are old friends with great friendship. In 2008, the two leaders met for the first time during the Summer Olympics in Beijing, which marks the start of long-time friendly exchanges. In 2014 and 2019, President Xi Jinping received His Highness in Beijing for an official visit. In June 2019, the two heads of states met again in Dushanbe. After the pandemic outbreak in 2020, our two heads of states immediately spoke to each other to convey confidence and support. As the Winter Olympics fall on the Chinese lunar New Year this year, the visit of His Highness to China will not only be a celebration of the Winter Olympic Games, but also a celebration of lunar New Year in China with President Xi and the Chinese people. I believe their great friendship started with Olympic Games will be once again enhanced by Beijing 2022.
It is a visit of co-operation. In recent years, under the strategic guidance of the two heads of states, China-Qatar relations have witnessed sustained, sound and stable development. During His Highness’s visit to China, President Xi Jinping held the first face-to-face meeting with His Highness since the pandemic, and exchange in-depth views on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues, providing the top-level design that will guide the direction for our future relations and inject strong impetus into China-Qatar friendship in the new era.
The stage is set and guests have arrived. Hosting the Winter Olympics is a solemn commitment China has made to the international community. Over the past six years, following a green, inclusive, open and clean approach, we have made orderly progress in all preparation works. At present, 12 competition venues are completed, 3,000 athletes are all set, 300mn Chinese people will take part in winter sports driven by the Games, and 1.4bn Chinese people are welcoming guests from all over the world. China is ready. We have the confidence and capability to deliver a splendid, extraordinary and outstanding Olympic Games to the world.
It is also the common aspiration of China and Qatar to see a successful Winter Olympics. We sincerely welcome His Highness to Beijing for the opening and look forward to seeing our friendship reinforced in Beijing, the “Duel Olympic City”. China is also ready to take the Winter Olympics as an opportunity to work with Qatar for a shared future, to make new contributions to the Olympic cause and Beijing 2022, and inject new impetus into China-Qatar relations.


Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with His Highness the Amir on Saturday. What is your take on the meeting?
On February 5, President Xi Jinping met with His Highness the Amir at the National People’s Congress Hall in Beijing. President Xi expressed his cordial welcome and thanks to His Highness for attending the opening ceremony of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. His Highness the Amir said that it was a great pleasure to visit Beijing again for the Winter Olympic Games, recalling his previous visit in 2008 to attend the Summer Olympics in Beijing. His Highness expressed his confidence that Beijing Winter Olympics will prove to be a successful Games.
The meeting between our two heads of states has sent important signals to the two countries:
The first is highlighting the close relationship between our two countries. President Xi pointed out that China-Qatar relations have witnessed rapid and in-depth growth over the recent years. Pragmatic co-operation between our two countries is pivoted against the impact of the pandemic, and bilateral co-operation in various fields including energy and infrastructure has yielded fruitful results. At present, China-Qatar relationship is facing new opportunities, and China is willing to work with Qatar to lift our strategic partnership to a new level. His Highness the Amir said that the bilateral relations have achieved historical outcomes, and Qatar is pleased to have developed such strong and deepening ties with China.
Secondly, it reaffirms our confidence in mutual support. President Xi called for firm support between China and Qatar. He stressed that China will, as always, support Qatar in safeguarding national sovereignty, independence, security and stability, and supports Qatar in independently exploring a development path that suits its own national conditions. His Highness confirmed that Qatar will continue to firmly support China in defending sovereignty and security.
Thirdly, we’re mapping up blueprints for mutual co-operation. President Xi said China supports Qatar in the development strategy of “National Vision 2030”, and is willing to work with Qatar in the joint construction of “Belt and Road” Initiative, as well as the implementation of Global Development Initiative. The Chinese side will expand co-operation in energy, infrastructure and other sectors, build a long-term and stable energy partnership, and will encourage more Chinese enterprises to invest in Qatar and take active parts in Qatar’s infrastructure construction and the Free Zone. We also welcome the Qatari side to increase investment in China. President Xi expressed China’s will to deepen co-operation in counter-terrorism and other fields, and expressed his hope that Qatar could continue to play an active role in finalising the FTA agreement between China and Gulf states. 
His Highness the Amir said Qatar welcomes investment from Chinese enterprises to Qatar, and is willing to deepen co-operation with China in various fields such as energy and infrastructure, and actively promote co-operation under the “Belt and Road” Initiative to make grater contributions to our bilateral relations. His Highness also expressed Qatar’s readiness to play an active role in deepening the co-operative relationship between GCC and China.
Fourthly, there is a desire to enhance mutual exchanges between our two peoples. President Xi stressed the importance to enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Qatar. He also highlighted that China supports Qatar in hosting the 2022 World Cup and the 2030 Asian Games, and will launch co-operation of giant pandas with Qatar, which is the first of its kind in the Middle East region. His Highness congratulated China for the excellent response to the Covid-19 outbreak, which comes as a result of the determination and hard work of the Chinese government and its people. He expressed Qatar’s willingness to strengthen cultural exchanges with China and promote co-operation in the fields of education and sports.
The giant panda is recognised as the national treasure of China, which enjoys great popularity all around the world. It is a symbol of peace and friendship. The co-operation between China and Qatar on the joint research of giant pandas has become a highlight of our bilateral ties, and resembles the friendship between our two leaders. Currently, the site of panda houses in Qatar is under construction. Later this year before the World Cup, Chinese giant pandas will arrive in Qatar, marking their first debut in the Middle East. This will be a remarkable gift from China for the Qatar World Cup, and we hope that the pandas will bring happiness and best wishes from the Chinese people to the brotherly Qatari people, and serve as a new bridge of friendship between our two countries. 


How do you evaluate China-Qatar relations in recent years? What is your expectation for the future development of bilateral ties?
China and Qatar are good brothers, good friends and good partners. Our two sides established strategic partnership in 2014, ushering in a fast track of development. In particular, during His Highness’s successful visit to China in 2019, our two leaders have reached broad consensus on further deepening co-operation in all fields, drawing up new blueprints for bilateral ties in a new era of great development.
We are hand in hand on issues of core interests. China and Qatar share the same aspirations of mutual equality and win-win co-operation, and have been supporting each other on issues of core interests and in independently exploring development paths suited to our respective national conditions. Despite the pandemic, high-level exchanges between our two countries remain heated. In 2021, Yang Jiechi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, as well as Wang Yi, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister have paid two successful visits to Qatar, during which important outcomes were reached on implementing the consensus between our two heads of states, which further strengthens China-Qatar relations. 
On multilateral affairs, our two countries have maintained close co-ordination and jointly practice true multilateralism, defend the international system with the UN at its core, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms of international relations underpinned by the UN Charter, and make our contributions in defending the common interests of developing countries.
We stand shoulder to shoulder in the fight against the pandemic. In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, China and Qatar have stood together through thick and thin. The governments of the two countries have donated medical supplies for each other and shared experiences with each other, and our two peoples encouraged each other, demonstrating with concrete actions the strong friendship between China and Qatar. Not long ago, China and Qatar worked together to donate 50,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine to the Philippines, making joint contributions to the global fight against Covid-19. We believe after the pandemic, our friendship will withstand the test of time and grow even stronger.
We rise higher step by step in our pragmatic co-operation. Qatar is China’s natural partner in Belt and Road co-operation. In recent years, the two countries have strengthened the synergy between BRI and National Vision 2030, forming a co-operation pattern with oil and gas as the core, infrastructure as the focus, financial investment and high technologies as new growing points. Bilateral trade has seen rapid growth, hitting a record high of $15.6bn in the first 11 months of last year. China has been Qatar’s largest trading partner and largest source of imports for a consecutive 2-year, and is expected to become Qatar’s largest export destination for the first time last year. Energy companies of the two sides have signed a number of long-term LNG contracts, building a strategic energy partnership. 
China firmly supports Qatar in hosting the FIFA World Cup, and the Lusail Stadium built by Chinese company will witness the glory of victory at the finals. Chinese companies and financial institutions have also taken an active part in major strategic projects in Qatar, such as the Hamad Port and 5G commercial network, helping China contribute to Qatar’s economic diversification and national development.
We make deeper people-to-people exchanges. “Amity between the people holds the key to state-to-state relations”. In 2016, we successfully held the China-Qatar Year of Culture, attracting Qatari people with traditional Chinese culture, folk music and Kung fu. More and more Qatari people have begun to learn Chinese language as well. In 2019, we have announced a visa-free policy between our two sides, and the establishment of the China-Qatar Friendship Council and Qatar-China Friendship Association has further deepened the exchanges and friendship between our two peoples. At present, the two sides are engaging in efforts to establish Chinese Cultural Center and Confucius Institute in Qatar, which will build a new bridge for closer ties between our two countries.
Looking back to our relations, we have yielded fruitful results. Looking to the future, China-Qatar relations are full of boundless expectations.
We will remain committed to our common aspirations of solidarity and collaboration. Following the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup in November. China is ready to work with Qatar to present two splendid sports feasts and offer strong support to China’s “Long-Range Objectives Through 2035” and Qatar’s National Vision 2030, boosting the confidence of mankind to overcome difficulties under the new Olympic motto: “Faster, Higher, Stronger and Together”.
We will jointly shoulder the responsibility of co-operation in the fight against Covid-19. China is ready to work with Qatar to play an active part in global co-operation against the pandemic, contribute to medicines R&D, ensure an equitable vaccine distribution, close the “immunisation gap” and strive to build a global community of health for all.
We will jointly foster green development. China is ready to work with Qatar to strengthen co-operation in green infrastructure, green energy and green finance, building a closer partnership for green development between our two sides. We will jointly act in response of climate change, improve global environmental governance and build a community of life for man and nature.
We will join our efforts on international fairness and justice. China is ready to work with Qatar to uphold true multilateralism. We should remove barriers, not erect walls. We should open up, not close off. We should seek integration, not decoupling. We will make persistent efforts in the reform of global governance following the principles of fairness and justice, and make economic globalisation more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all.