In 2018, marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Qatar, under the backdrop of the era and national policies, the Organizing Committee of the Global Economic Development Forum (GEDF) received an invitation letter from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of Qatar. The GEDF Organizing Committee organized elites from China's business community, along with nearly 500 guests including government officials, business leaders, scholars, and artists from about 12 countries such as Qatar, Singapore, the United States, Australia, Laos, Nepal, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan, to travel to Qatar. They conducted in-depth discussions on international development and cooperation in multiple fields carried out under the grand background of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Qatar is a pearl among the countries in the Middle East and the Gulf region. It is a very important node country on the Silk Road. It is one of the earliest countries to respond to the Belt and Road Initiative and join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and has signed a memorandum of cooperation on jointly building the Belt and Road with China. Taking the Belt and Road Initiative as an opportunity, this forum takes "The New Silk Road, A New Milestone, A New Leap" as the theme of the summit. All parties work together to promote international cultural exchanges and economic and trade exchanges! At the summit, the Minister of Commerce and Industry of Qatar, the President of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce, the Investment Promotion Committee, Ambassador Li Chen of China to Qatar, and the national ministers of Pakistan, Nepal, Laos and other countries delivered speeches on the stage, and business leaders from many countries gave speeches on the stage.

More than 500 enterprises from various countries participated in this conference. Ten enterprise projects were signed at the conference, including projects in artificial intelligence, healthcare, sports industry, manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, logistics and supply chain, digital economy, urban management, etc., integrating many subdivided industries. The Minister of Commerce and Industry of Qatar, the Chairman of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce, and Ambassador Li Chen of the Chinese Embassy in Qatar jointly witnessed the signing ceremony.

During the roundtable dialogue session, dialogue guests from multiple countries discussed topics such as "The Qatar National Vision 2030 and China's Belt and Road Initiative Moving Forward Hand in Hand" and "The Business Opportunities Created by Shared Cooperation between Chinese and Qatari Enterprises during the 2022 FIFA World Cup". The guests expressed their unique opinions from multiple dimensions within the fields they were familiar with regarding these topics, presenting something new and refreshing to the participating guests.