Qatar, China mark three decades of friendly relations

Qatar has maintained self-restraint and wisdom in dealing with the situation arising from the Gulf crisis more than a year after imposition of the blockade, calling for dialogue and negotiations to resolve the matter, Chinese ambassador to Qatar Li Chen has said.He praised the many successes of Qatar during this period, stressing that the country has managed to maintain broad international relations covering European, Asian and African countries, and opened new lines of economic co-operation with these nations. Besides, Qatar has worked to ensure self-reliance and self-sufficiency in agriculture and industry and has seen major achievements in this regard.“Qatar has succeeded in dealing with the crisis and mitigated its negative impacts. We are happy to see that the Qatari-Chinese co-operation has not been impacted by the crisis either economically or politically ” the envoy said.He also expressed China’s support for the Kuwaiti mediation efforts and the need for a peaceful settlement of the current dispute.The ambassador said Qatar plays an active role in fighting terrorism at the regional and international levels. “China is keen to enhance communication and co-operation with Qatar in combating terrorism, and the two countries have signed a co-operation agreement in the security and law-enforcement fields. In addition, the two countries are co-operating to have a long-term strategy for security co-operation and enhancing dialogue regarding the exchange of policies and intelligence information, besides related technical co-operation and training of personnel to jointly counteract regional and international terrorist threats,” he said. This year, Qatar and China mark the 30th anniversary of the official establishment of diplomatic relations between the two friendly countries. The envoy stressed that China is ready to co-operate with Qatar to further enhance the mutual political trust and share the economic and cultural benefits as an outcome of this.