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Qatar-China relations are at their strongest in history, with enormous potential and broad prospects for mutually beneficial co-operation between the two countries, China’s ambassador to Qatar Cao Xiaolin said yesterday. Speaking at a media briefing, the envoy noted that since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1988, the Qatar-China strategic partnership has enjoyed 12 years of high-quality development under the strategicguidance of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Mutual trust between the two countries has continued to deepen, the ambassador noted, and Xi and His Highness the Amir have reached a series of important understandings to advance the strategic partnership, which have served as a blueprint for bilateral friendship and co-operation.Co-operation between China and Qatar across various fields has yielded fruitful results. Since 2020, China has remained Qatar’s largest trading partner and largest export destination.Bilateral trade volume has risen from $10.6bn in 2014 to $23.81bn in 2025 – a nearly 125% increase. Turning to China’s policy on the Middle East, Cao referred to the five-point initiative jointly put forward by China and Pakistan in March this year on restoring peace and stability in the Gulf and the broader region. The initiative called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the early launch of peace negotiations, protection of non-military targets, safeguarding the passage security of the Strait of Hormuz, and upholding the primary authority of the UN Charter. China maintains that countries in the Gulf region and the Middle East should hold their future and destiny firmly in their own hands, he said, adding that Beijing supports regional countries in establishing a peace and security architecture based on broad participation, shared interests and common development. On the recent summit between Xi and US President Donald Trump, the ambassador said the two leaders’ in-depth discussions had produced fruitful outcomes.“The most important political understanding they reached was the agreement to build a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability,” he said. Cao explained that the two presidents had agreed on a new vision providing strategic guidance for bilateral relations over the next three years and beyond.“Both sides should maintain policy continuity and stability,” the envoy said. “It is very important for both sides to honour our words and move in the same direction. A positive outlook on China-US co-operation will provide more certainty for both countries’ development and for the international situation.” He stressed that the Taiwan question was an important topic at the summit.“China’s position is very clear: first, the Taiwan question is China’s internal affair,” the envoy stated. “Realising complete reunification is an aspiration shared by all sons and daughters of the Chinese nation.” On economic and trade outcomes, Cao said that Xi had emphasised that economic and trade ties are mutually beneficial and win-win by nature.Where disagreements and frictions exist, equal-footed consultation is the only right approach, he added, noting that the two economic and trade teams had produced generally balanced and positive outcomes. On the Middle East situation, the ambassador said Xi had set forth China’s consistent position: negotiation may not produce immediate results, but now that the door of dialogue has been opened, it should not be closed again. He said that China encourages the US and Iran to continue settling their differences and disputes through negotiation, including on the nuclear issue.Beijing has also called for reopening the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible on the basis of a sustained ceasefire, and believes the fundamental solution to the stalemate lies in achieving a permanent, comprehensive ceasefire.The envoy concluded that, as Xi had pointed out, China-US relations concern the well-being of more than 1.7bn people in both countries and affect the interests of over 8bn people worldwide.China, Cao said, is prepared to work with the US to follow through on the important understandings reached by the two presidents in Beijing. 

Turkish inflation came in higher than expected in August, at nearly 33% annually and more than 2% on a monthly basis, readings that are likely to slow the central bank's plans to cut interest rates as it also weighs stronger economic growth.Annual consumer price inflation stood at 32.95% last month, official data showed on Wednesday, above a Reuters poll estimate of 32.6%. It was up 2.04% on a monthly basis.In further evidence that consumer demand remains strong despite the effects of prolonged monetary tightening, separate data on Monday had shown that Turkiye's economy grew by 4.8% in the second quarter, above expectations.The data flurry comes at a jittery time for investors in Turkiye. A court on Tuesday ousted the Istanbul provincial head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), dealing a fresh judicial blow to opponents of President Tayyip Erdogan and triggering sharp falls in Turkish share and bond markets.According to a poll conducted in July, economists had expected the central bank to cut its policy rate to 36% by year-end, or some 700 basis points from the current 43%. However the latest inflation and GDP data could cause it to slow the pace of the easing, analysts said."Looking ahead to the central bank's September 11 meeting, we expect the market's current consensus for a 300bps rate cut to moderate towards 200-250bps," Oyak Securities said in a note to clients on Wednesday.In July, the central bank cut the policy rate by 300 basis points, relaunching an easing cycle paused in March, and it promised to use all policy tools in the event of a significant and persistent deterioration in inflation."After Wednesday's GDP growth data and today's inflation data, the probability of the central bank cutting rates by 300 basis points in September has become very low," Hakan Kara, a former central bank chief economist now on the faculty at Bilkent University in Ankara, said on X.The monthly inflation reading for August of 2.04% was affected by higher food, education, and housing prices, as well as the continued impact of a mid-year update of taxes on tobacco and fuel items.In July, CPI inflation stood at 33.52% on an annual basis, while the monthly reading was 2.06%.In the Reuters poll, the monthly inflation rate for August had been expected to come in at 1.8%.The domestic producer price index rose 2.48% month-on-month in August for an annual rise of 25.16%, the data showed.Inflation is seen slowing to 30% at the end of this year according to the poll median, higher than the central bank forecast range of 25%-29%.