Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula, Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi speaks during a Qatar TV programme on Friday.
Doha: Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula, Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi has said that the final communiqué issued by the Supreme Council of GCC at its 43rd session on Friday stressed on enhancing further joint cooperation among the members states.
In an interview with Qatar TV on Friday, Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi said that the communiqué also lauded Qatar for successfully hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, assuring to stand with Qatar against recent criticism by some Western countries and on other issues.
To a question about the participation of China as a strategic business partners in the GCC summit, he said China is a major trading partner for GCC countries and is the second largest economy of the world. “Today’s trend is multi-polarity which is in the interest of the region for not depending on a unipolar system,” said Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi.
He said that China participated in the summit as a major country and the fastest growing economy because it needs GCC countries for hydrocarbon, diversifying its economy and support for regional and international issues.
Speaking about an official talk session between Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and President of China H E Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the Riyadh Gulf-China Summit for Cooperation and Development, Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi said that the session was very successful from all aspects. He said the talk emphasised on cooperation on all issues related to Qatar and China.
Regarding the Chinese-Arab Summit, he said that trade of China with Arab countries witnessed tremendous growth, recording over $300bn during past ten years. Apart from the business, he said, the stands of China on some Arab issues were supportive, notably on the Palestine issue.
“The 43rd session of Supreme Council of GCC was held in an exceptional situation, like the Russia-Ukraine war, energy crisis and economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi. He said that the summit focused on three main points — GCC security, joint defence and economic cooperation — among other issues.
