"I would like to specially thank the Chinese companies that supported us to build the largest stadium, the Stadium of Lusail, in the 2022 World Cup. These big projects demonstrate the deep friendship between China and Qatar," Ghanem Mohamed TH.A.AL-Maadeed, Qatar's Consul General in Guangzhou said in an interview with GDToday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent landmark visit to Saudi Arabia has brought China-Arab states ties to new heights. On December 14, AL-Maadeed and consuls from other Arab countries shared with GDToday their insights on investment and cooperation in Guangdong, and emphasized their countries will increase exchanges with Guangdong in terms of culture, tourism, and trade.
"China hosted the Beijing Olympic Winter Games at the beginning of 2022 and amazed the world with its marvelous organization. Our Chinese friends have also made great contributions to building the World Cup stadiums, venues, facilities, and related infrastructure in Qatar with high quality and efficiency."
AL-Maadeed praised the Guangdong companies' contributions to the World Cup and hoped to advance relations with Guangdong to a higher level and better prospects.
"As you see here, we have a Qatar Airways office and a tourism office in Guangdong. And we hope that we can sign some Memorandums of Understanding in the future."
According to statistics released by Guangdong customs authority, from January to October this year, the trade volume between Guangdong and Qatar reached 12.04 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 42.4%.
In light of Xi's visit, officials from Saudi Arabia have also expressed their hope to spur exchanges with Guangdong province. Abdullah Bin Abiyah, Consul General of Saudi Arabia in Guangzhou, said the focus of their country in 2023 is to strengthen investment and cooperation with Guangdong in trade, industries, technology, and culture.
"Recently, we have signed many contracts to exchange cultures between the two sides. When the pandemic normal quarantine is off, I think culture exchange and trade between the two sides is going to up," Abiyah added.
In addition, some Arab states are also attempting to duplicate Guangdong’s development experience in their countries. Osman, Acting Consul General of the Republic of the Sudan in Guangzhou, considered Guangdong has a big resilience for the economic development.
"Guangdong has a lot of market. That is why it has a lot of foreigners here. We hope to take China's development experience to our country. We will make more development and more good future."
Data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs showed that China has signed cooperative documents with 20 Arab countries and the Arab League on jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative, with more than 200 large projects in energy and infrastructure having been implemented.
Bilateral trade value between China and Arab states in the first nine months of the year had exceeded 319 billion USD, representing nearly the entire amount recorded last year.
Author | Ariel
Video | Qin Shaolong
Editor | Wing, Nan, Monica, Jerry
