The two sides have decided to focus on investments based on a meeting between the top leaders of the two countries in December 2022. Qatar has been backing China’s forays in the West Asia and North Africa region. Beijing and Doha are structuring its ties based on energy and infrastructure requirements, ET has learnt.
Chinese soft power was on display when Qatar held World Cup soccer in 2022 with Beijing supplying electronic vehicles and assisting with network and communications systems. Cultural ties are being developed with the focus on media, tourism and sports.
China is Qatar’s largest trading partner accounting for nearly 14 per cent of Doha’s foreign trade. Over a dozen Chinese companies are currently active in Qatar and several are in the pipeline, ET has learnt. Qatar meets 40 per cent requirements of China’s LNG demands and China is the second largest buyer of Qatar’s LNG.
Two months back China signed a deal with Qatar for the North Field East Expansion project. Qatar will supply four million tonnes of LNG per annum for almost 30 years to China.
On the other hand, Qatari investments are on rise in China across sectors including shipbuilding, manufacturing, petrochemicals, advanced technology, financial services and tourism. China has been pushing all energy rich Gulf states to use Yuan for energy trade but this would have implications for India, also a major importer of fossil fuel from the region. Interestingly, the Qatar backed Muslim Brotherhood runs an anti-India campaign while Doha remains silent against the persecution of Uyghurs in China.
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