Qatar and China are exploring ways to strengthen their bilateral economic and trade relationship, especially in the areas of construction, information technology, electronics, mining, textiles and tourism.
In this regard, HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani yesterday met in Doha with China’s Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Beijing sub-council and the accompanying delegation.
The meeting, attended by Chinese envoy Li Chen, reviewed the bilateral relations, and explored aspects of mutual co-operation, particularly in the economic, trade, investment fields, and ways to strengthen and develop them in the light of the growing and distinctive ties of friendship between the two countries.
The meeting addressed the investment incentives provided by the country and the State’s foreign policy in the areas of trade and investment. It also took up the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) initiative launched by China for economic and trade co-operation and the role played by CCPIT in promoting the levels of bilateral trade and investment.
Qatar and China have close economic and trade ties that have positively reflected the volume of trade, which reached nearly QR38.7bn in 2017 and the Asian country is Doha’s third largest trading partner.
The companies operating in Qatar and 100% owned by the Chinese side are about 14, and the number of companies with limited liability, with Chinese as partners, are about 181 working in the fields of trade, contracting, construction, information technology, food trade and furnishings and engineering consultancy.
Later in the day, Qatar Chamber and CCPIT held a meeting that discussed possible co-operation in different areas. The Chamber was led by its vice chairman Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Towar al-Kuwari and CCPIT was led by its chairman Jiang Zengwei.
Qatar Chamber expressed its keen interest in enhancing trade co-operation with China, pointing to the memorandum of understanding signed last year with CCPIT to join the Silk Road Business Council.
The two sides also signed a co-operation agreement to enhance their co-operation with the private sector and attract more partnerships between businessmen in both countries.
“China is keen to strengthen co-operation with Qatar as an important country that enjoys natural resources of oil and gas and actively promote diversified economic development, while China is expected to import goods worth $24tn in the next 15 years, attracting large foreign direct investment, and creating great opportunities for further co-operation between China and Qatar,” Zengwei said.
He suggested empowering the strategic partnership between the two sides by deepening co-operation in the energy sector, enhancing co-operation in infrastructure, expanding co-operation in the field of science and technology innovation and accelerating co-operation in the financial sector.
HE Sheikh Ahmed: Distinctive ties of friendship between Qatar and China.
