|
DOHA, Feb. 3-- Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani's recent visit to China has been welcomed by analysts and businessmen from both sides. "The visit to China by Emir Tamim opened a new era of cooperation between the two countries with impressive results," analyst Nabil al-Mrir told Xinhua. "A number of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed during the visit including one on strategic dialogue between the governments of Qatar and China," al-Mrir added. "The visit drew a roadmap to boost strategic partnership between the two countries in political, economic, investment, energy, technology and security cooperation domains," he said. The analyst noted that Qatar is one of the biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) producers in the world, and China is one of the biggest importers of LNG. "The expansion of cooperation in production and consumption of LNG between the two countries will be beneficial for both of them," he said. Analyst Hassan al-Ali told Xinhua that the visit of the emir of Qatar to China is very important especially in the light of the ongoing blockade imposed on his country. In early June in 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain imposed a blockade on Qatar and cut all the diplomatic ties and transport links with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups. Qatar vehemently denied the accusations. "Doha needs to boost cooperation and trade exchange with various countries to change its economic development mode from reliance on oil and gas export to a diversified one," al-Ali said. | 
