You can’t miss ‘China green’ in Qatar

Is there a Chinese soccer team at the Qatar 2022 World Cup? No. But one can’t miss Chinese elements in and around the stadiums in this desert state. One can take a nap in a “mobile hotel”, built by Chinese engineers, drink water from ponds, dug by Chinese engineers, charge one’s mobile phone with electricity generated at the photovoltaic power stations constructed by Chinese companies, and take a shuttle imported from China to move between hotels and stadiums.

Did we forget something? Yes, even some stadiums are built by Chinese construction companies, while the souvenirs one can buy there, too, are made in China.

That’s how China has participated in this World Cup and earlier tournaments, and may do so in the upcoming ones too: by providing products and services to the athletes and audiences alike, thus impressing the world with its technology and products.

While “Made in China” has left its stamp on earlier soccer World Cups and other sports events, what makes the Qatar World Cup unique is the kind of technology China is providing. For example, the Stadium 974, built by Chinese enterprises, is the first movable and redeployable “green stadium”. It can recycle rainwater for future use and ferment the garbage collected from the stadium into fertilizer. Besides, China has built an 800 MW photovoltaic station that constantly turns the abundant sunshine in the Middle East into electricity for the stadium.

The vuvuzelas — a China-made horn producing a loud monotone note — that was a big hit during the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 shows the progress China has made over the past decade.

Another reason that has made it possible for Chinese firms to perform well in the World Cup is that China has registered good economic growth amid a global recession. While the whole world suffers from economic slowdown and recession because of the novel coronavirus pandemic and other reasons, Chinese companies have largely continued to function normally. — ZHANG ZHOUXIANG, CHINA DAILY