There is a great scope for further co-operation between Shanghai and Doha, a top official of Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress has said.

In an exclusive interview with Gulf Times, Yin Yicui, Director of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress, said: "Doha and Shanghai are coastal cities and both enjoy a significant share of shipping business. There is a great scope of further co-operation for both the cities in the maritime, shipping and aviation cargo sectors. Both in Shanghai and Doha, we have free trade zones. Another area of co-operation is in the energy sector with Qatar producing large amount of oil and gas and Shanghai has large capacity in oil refinery. Shanghai (in particular) and China (in general) offer many opportunities for co-operation for Qatari investors.”

The official said a photo exhibition themed “Moments in History, 70 Years of Shanghai—Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China” begins at Katara Sunday. The exhibition that features several key moments of China in the last seven decades, will last until October 3.

Shanghai is a global financial, innovation and technology, and transport hub, with the world's busiest container port.

Yicui said Shanghai has played a unique role in the development of China. “On behalf of the Shanghai municipality, I am here to unveil the exhibition. Shanghai has been one of the largest industrial centres in China. Shanghai has been the birthplace of the first Chinese TV set, and the place of origin for many other products, particularly machinery and heavy machinery among other things,” she explained.

"The People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, and Shanghai, as a window to China’s opening up to the outside world, is a mirror of the country’s development and achievements over the past seven decades. The first key words of Shanghai’s development, I think, are openness and tolerance," she pointed out.

“Our intention is to turn Shanghai into a centre of innovation in science and technology. We have entered into a new era and there is demand to restructure the economy. Going forward, start-ups and innovation will be our focus," highlighted the official.

As for the relationship between Qatar and China, the official said: “Both the China and Qatari leadership have defined the relationship as strategic and co-operative one. Qatar and China have similar development vision. With such vision there is room for further co-operation. We also foresee co-operation and exchange in culture and education.

He JiLiang, one of the organisers of the photo exhibition, said that Doha is one of the places where an exhibition to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China is being organised.

“We are holding the exhibition in Doha as it is one of the most important places in the region and the Middle East. Doha has a huge influence on the region and we hope that more people are better informed about China through the exhibition.”

“China and Shanghai specifically have gone through several changes. We hope to showcase the world what we have achieved in the past seven decades. Seventy most valuable moments and most important snapshots of the last 70 years are being shown in the exhibition,” explained JiLiang.

“We have divided the exhibition into three phases. The first one is from 1949 to 1978 when China made rapid changes. The second phase is from 1978 to 2012 when major reforms took place in China. The third phase is from 2012 when President Xi Jinping assumed office and we have seen several new approaches and policies which are open and integrated,” he added. Page 7

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