Pakistan and China on Thursday reaffirmed their commitment to advancing bilateral cooperation under the upgraded China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC 2.0), including five new corridors.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, currently on an official tour of China, met his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang, with both sides expressing satisfaction with the progress of their relations. They also pledged to work closely on the next phase of CPEC.
During the meeting, the two leaders also attended a ceremony to exchange memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and agreements signed and announced between the two countries with regard to cooperation in the development of CPEC 2.0, science and technology, I.T., media, and agriculture. The two countries then engaged in delegation-level talks.
According to a statement from the Foreign Office, the prime minister expressed his deepest gratitude to the Chinese leadership and nation for their unflinching support of Pakistan’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and socio-economic development.
Building on the important consensus reached between President Xi Jinping and P.M. Sharif in a meeting on Sept. 2, the two leaders reaffirmed their shared resolve to further strengthen the ironclad, all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between Pakistan and China.
The premier also congratulated the Chinese leadership on the successful hosting of the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit in Tianjin and extended his felicitations to China on the 80th anniversary of the success of the Chinese people in the War of Resistance and World’s Anti-Fascist War.
Paying rich tribute to China’s impressive transformation under President Xi Jinping’s visionary leadership, the prime minister stated that Pakistan wanted to emulate China’s successes and build a stronger and closer Pakistan-China community with a shared future. He added that his government’s tireless reform efforts were yielding promising results, made possible through China’s strong support.
The prime minister also shared Pakistan’s intent to float Panda Bonds in the Chinese capital market soon. On the economic front, he highlighted the significant contribution of CPEC, a flagship project of President Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative, in Pakistan’s socio-economic development over the past decade. He stressed the need for early implementation of ML-I, KKH realignment and operationalization of the Gwadar Port.
Emphasizing the vast potential for business-to-business cooperation and investment, Sharif briefed his Chinese counterpart on the B2B Investment Conference held earlier in the day, attended by more than 300 Pakistani and 500 Chinese companies.
He identified agriculture, mines and minerals, textile, industrial sector and I.T. as priority areas for mutually beneficial economic collaboration. He also reiterated Pakistan’s support for President Xi Jinping’s landmark initiatives to strengthen multilateralism, including the Global Governance Initiative, Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative as well as Global Civilization Initiative.