China Qatar trade talks set to begin

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping is set to arrive in Qatar this week for an official good-will visit to Qataraimed at boosting mutually beneficial cooperation and the friendly ties between the two nations and the two peoples.

Since the establishment of their diplomatic ties in 1988, the China and Qatar have respected and supported each other, and their friendly relations have undergone steady development and the field of their cooperation kept expanding.

Trade between the two countries dated back to the 1950s, but only in recent years has it begun to pick up speed.

In 2007, bilateral trade volume reached 1.21 billion U.S. dollars, up 21 percent year-on-year, of which Chinese imports total 590 million dollars and exports 620 million dollars, according to the statistics of China's Ministry of Commerce.

The Chinese and Qatari economies are highly complementary. The majority of Chinese exports to Qatar include mechanical and electrical products, textiles, and high-tech products, which meet the needs of the Gulf country which is rich in energy resources but has a limited manufacturing industry.

China and Qatar have strengthened cooperation in the energy sector. This March, Qatar, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), signed with China a memorandum on promoting bilateral energy cooperation.

China and Qatar also have increasingly close cooperation in engineering projects and the labor service sector. During the first quarter of 2008, Chinese companies signed contracts worth nearly 2 billion dollars with Qatar for undertaking engineering projects and providing labor services, according to the Economic and Commercial Counselor's Office of the Chinese Embassy in Qatar.