China, Qatar to Expand Trade And CooperationChinese and Qatari trade officials held their first specialized meeting on trade and economic cooperation Tuesday in Beijing.The two-day convention of the Mixed Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation Between China and Qatar is intended to expand bilateral trade and cooperation in all areas including oil and gas sectors. Wang Hanjiang, head of the Chinese delegation, said in the meeting that China has always attached special importance to the development of trade relations with Qatar, and the current meeting will further strengthen bilateral ties. Wang is also responsible for trade and economic cooperation with Western Asian and African countries with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. Ali H. Al-Khalaf, head of the Qatar delegation and director of the department of economy of Qatari Ministry of Finance, Economy and Trade, said Qatar and China have maintained friendly relations since diplomatic ties were forged between the two countries in 1988. The successful state visit of Qatar Emir to China last year, he said, helped promote the overall friendly relations and trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. He sees massive potential for further cooperation. Over the past decade, China and Qatar signed several agreements on bilateral trade and mutual investment. Two-way trade volume during the first five months of this year reached 140 million US dollars, and China has bought 130 million US dollars worth of Qatari goods, five times over the same period last year. During Tuesday's meeting, the two sides held in-depth discussions on cooperation in a wide range of fields covering oil, natural gas, mutual investment, trade, contractual engineering and labor cooperation. They reached consensus that China will build an investment and trade promotion center in Qatar in the near future. |
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