In the summer of 2023, Lusel New Town, when the car drove to a familiar intersection, Mohammed Qasim, 30, subconsciously looked to the right not far away is Qatar's landmark Lusel Stadium. Lussel Stadium is the home stadium of the 22nd World Cup Football Tournament, which is built by China Railway Construction International Group Co., LTD., starting from November 21, 2016, the main project will be completed in September 2021, and it will be fully completed in September 2022. It has witnessed the grand scenes of the World Cup, witnessed the peak moment of Messi's reign as king, and changed the life trajectory of ordinary people like Qasim.

According to the statistics of China Railway Construction International Group, more than 7,000 people were working on the project at the peak of construction, of which nearly 90% were foreign employees. These foreign employees come from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other countries along the Belt and Road.

Gulbahar, an engineer from Pakistan, is one of them. Gulbahar attended university in Liaoning, China, and returned to work in the Middle East after completing his undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Thanks to the Lussel Stadium project, he met and joined the work team of China Railway Construction International Group.

I learned a lot of new things from them. Gulbahar said he can always feel the kindness and patience of his Chinese colleagues at work. While watching a World Cup match from the stands of the Lussel Stadium, which he helped build, Gulbahar's even somewhat impossibly complex drawings became a reality. The Qatar World Cup gave this stylish building its moment in the spotlight. Because of its golden facade and bowl-like shape, people gave it a nickname - Big Gold Bowl. The nickname went viral on the Internet, drawing tens of thousands of fans to take photos.

In fact, the Lussel Stadium has been a part of local life since before its official debut. In December 2020, the Central Bank of Qatar officially announced the fifth set of legal tender Qatari riyal banknotes, and the new 10 riyal banknotes appear on the Lusel Stadium pattern - this is the first time that Chinese construction appears on Qatar's currency. This banknote with a picture of the Lussel Stadium is accompanied by local people's clothes, food, housing and transportation.

In 2022, the Lussel Stadium also received the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) five-star certification. Joseph ORR, founding president of the Gulf Research and Development Organization, said the stadium sets an example of green architecture.

With the addition of honor, the Lusel Stadium has become famous - Qatar University students are attracted to the internship of China Railway Construction International Group Qatar branch; Yemeni Sam has been to the Lusel Stadium many times. With a background in civil engineering, he enjoys visiting various sports venues and always has a professional opinion. These changes brought about by the Lussel Stadium in and around the region are closely related to the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China.

In November 2014, China and Qatar signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the State of Qatar on Jointly Advancing the Construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and the two sides decided to expand cooperation in infrastructure construction, communications, finance and other fields. After that, in addition to the Lusel Stadium, Chinese companies also undertook the construction of Qatar, Slightly reservoir E section project, Qatar strategic reservoir project can guarantee the water consumption of Qatar in special circumstances for 7 days; Qatar's largest photovoltaic power station, Alkassa 800 MW photovoltaic power station, is contracted by a Chinese enterprise, which is the first large-scale ground-based photovoltaic power station with full capacity connected to the grid in Qatar. Chinese companies have provided more than 10,000 container-style houses for the Qatar World Cup, solving the problem of accommodation for tens of thousands of fans.

Today, China is Qatar's largest trading partner, and Qatar is China's important natural gas partner. This international cooperation has also changed the course of many ordinary people's lives. In Gulbahar's case, he and his colleagues at China Railway Construction International Group moved on to the next engineering project after the Lussel Stadium was completed. They are currently completing a municipal engineering project for a local community in Qatar. Meng Xiangmin, deputy general manager of the Qatar branch of China Railway Construction International Group, said that the municipal engineering project involves the installation of street lights, signs, sewage and greening, and is expected to be completed in February 2026, which will directly benefit a local community of about 20,000 people. Some local residents saw them day and night to catch up with the project, specially sent cakes to express gratitude, Qatar is located in the Persian Gulf southwest of the Qatar Peninsula, a tropical desert climate, land area of 11521 square kilometers, the capital of Doha, the economic pillar is the oil and gas industry. As of May 2023, Qatar has a national population of 3 million, of which Qatari citizens account for about 15%, and foreigners mainly come from India, Pakistan and Southeast Asian countries.

China and Qatar established diplomatic ties in 1988 and established a strategic partnership in November 2014. In November 2014, the two countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the State of Qatar on Jointly Advancing the Construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to expand cooperation in infrastructure construction, communications, finance and other fields. According to data released by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in July 2023, China has become Qatar's largest trading partner since 2020. China mainly exports mechanical and electrical equipment, and mainly imports liquefied natural gas and industrial helium. Qatar is an important natural gas partner of China. In 2022, Qatar was the second largest LNG supplier to China, with China importing 15.7 million tons of LNG from Qatar in that year, an increase of 74.8 percent year-on-year, accounting for 24.7 percent of China's total imports in that year. In April and June 2023, Sinopec and CNPC successively obtained 1.25% equity in Qatar's North gas field project. In addition, the two countries continue to carry out people-to-people exchanges. In 2016, the China-Qatar Cultural Year was held in Qatar. From April to June 2018, Qatar's Al Thani Collection exhibition was held at the Palace Museum in Beijing. China and Qatar also carried out the first giant panda cooperation in the Middle East. In October 2022, giant pandas Jingjing and Sihai arrived in Qatar, and the giant panda House opened in November of that year.

In July 2018, China and Qatar signed a comprehensive visa exemption agreement. Editor/GaoLiMei