Qatar participates in the China - Arab forum

Al-Sheebi: Arab - China Relations strategic

Doha - Qatar

The State of Qatar participated in the Seventh session of the China – Arab Cooperation Forum, which started in Chengdu on Tuesday and will last for two days.

The State of Qatar represented by Ms.  Nadia Ahmed Al Shaibi, Assistant Director of the Diplomatic Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Dr Ibrahim Saleh Al-Naimi, Chairman, Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue.

The conference discussed four themes: dialogue among civilizations against the backdrop of China-Arab partnership in building Belt and Road initiative;  moderation in the Chinese and Arab civilizations; Islamophobia and the issue of social harmony, and China-Arab cooperation in uprooting extremism.

Ms. Nadia Al-Sheebi asserted the importance of participating in this forum, which affirm the Arab-Chinese quest to continue cooperation. This would achieve the common goal of reviving the historic and the legacy of bilateral relations filled of past achievements.

Ms. Nadia stressed in her paper (Civilization Dialogue, in the back drop of of China-Arab partnership in building belt and road) the significance of promoting and improving development and practical cooperation. This cooperation is within the framework of the "Belt and Road" initiative as a long term and an open forum that enhance the pattern of the new "oil and gas cooperation". It will also accelerate the process of attracting investment, the transfer of advanced and modern technology, driving the construction of priority industrial zones. She indicated that international politics today ascribed the human value of bilateral relations for the benefit of practical and financial value, and here lies the added value that can prompt Chinese-Qatari relations today.

Ms. Al-Sheebi stated the visit of HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir visit to Beijing, was a translation of these noble human principles. The visit gave huge momentum to the relations and moved them from the cooperation stage to strategic partnership phase, despite the relatively recent formation of diplomatic links started in 1988. She added the visit reflected the positive and solid approval of the 2014 initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping, sought to create an Arab-Chinese partnership in building "belt and road", and the formation of "1 plus 2 plus 3" cooperation framework. Qatar was the first country in the Middle East to join the" Belt and Road Initiative.

Mrs. Al-Shaibi indicated that the holding of the forum seventh edition in Chindu following the sixth edition in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, is a confirmation of the importance attached by the Arab and Chinese parties to dialogue between both civilizations. This will lead to promote cooperation between the Arab and Chinese people . In holding the forum sixth edition in Doha, and participation today, reaffirms the State of Qatar's belief in its importance, and the high value of its conclusions and recommendations, and the keenness on its continuity.