Chinese envoy in Qatar boasts about Beijing's contribution to FIFA World Cup
Nov 22, 2022
Doha [Qatar], November 22 : Chinese Ambassador to Qatar, Zhou Jian has boasted about China's contribution to the ongoing FIFA World Cup that began on November 20 in Qatar. Speaking to CGTN, Jian called the Lusail Stadium an "iconic project" and a Chinese contribution to the World Cup.
Zhao Jian said that China has contributed to FIFA World Cup with infrastructure, souvenirs telecommunication, 1500 energy buses and solar power plants. He stressed that Beijing's contributions to the World Cup will further improve the close friendship between China and Qatar, China Global Television Network reported.
"The Lusail Stadium is an iconic project in the Chinese contribution to the World Cup. From infrastructure to telecommunications, from 1,500 new-energy buses to solar power plants, from match supplies to souvenirs and fan items, made-in-China can be found everywhere in Qatar," CGTN quoted Zhao Jian as saying.
Notably, Lusail Stadium, which has the capacity to accommodate 80,000 people was jointly built by Qatar and the China Railway Construction Corporation. Lusail Stadium will host the FIFA World Cup final due to take place on December 18. It has also featured on the new 10-riyal banknote of Qatar.
Built by a Chinese company, the Al Kharsaah 800-megawatt (MW) solar power plant is located in the desert area about 80 kilometres west of Doha. As per the CGTN report, the solar power plant has increased the share of renewable energy in Qatar's energy consumption.
Furthermore, Chinese-made buses are being used for shuttling services for people during the FIFA World Cup. As per the news report, Qatar has imported around 1,500 buses from China, which include 888 electric buses. Chinese-made World Cup souvenirs are being sold in Qatar.
As the land area in Qatar is about 11,000 square kilometres, the authorities have built 6,000 container houses in the "fan village", located south of Doha to provide accommodation for thousands of fans from around the world, as per the news report. Chinese enterprises have built container houses in "fan villages" in Qatar.
It is pertinent to mention here that FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 kicked off on 20 November. It is the 22nd edition of the competition. The participating teams in the FIFA World Cup are Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands, England, Iran, United States, Wales, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland, France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia, Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia, Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon, Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea.
