China and Qatar will  strengthen cooperation in the oil and gas industries and the top oil companies of the two countries plan joint venture projects in China, the government said on Thursday.

During a meeting between visiting Qatar Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah and Wang Yong, the head of state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac), the two sides vowed more communication and joint development.

'Both sides talked about planned joint venture projects in China between China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Qatar  Petroleum (QP),' the Sasac said on its website www.sasac.gov.cn. It didn't elaborate on the projects.

Sasac is both a regulator and shareholder of some Chinese state giants.

In May, Royal Dutch Shell, CNPC and QP signed a 30-year deal for gas exploration and production in Qatar, the holder of the world's third-largest gas reserves.

Shell, as operator, will hold a 75 per cent equity stake, with CNPC holding the remainder.

Attiyah said at that time that Qatar was in talks over the  supply of 7 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas to China  and four million tonnes of LNG to India.-Reuters