ISLAMABAD - Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing has conveyed heartiest greetings to the newly elected members of the National Assembly, hoping that the new democratic era will further lead the country to prosperity, development and progress.
In his message, he narrated the growing Sino-Pak relations. He quoted President Xi Jinping having said, China-Pakistan relations should be a model of good-neighborly friendship, a pillar of regional peace and stability, and a benchmark for international cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI). No matter how the international and regional situation change, China-Pakistan friendship remains unbreakable and grows from strength to strength. Successive Pakistani governments have taken its relationship with China as the cornerstone of its foreign policy.
The support for China-Pakistan friendship and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has become an across-party, across-regional and across-board consensus of Pakistan, he added. The CPEC, he said has become a major pilot project of BRI. Up to now, 9 projects have been completed and 13 projects are under construction. At present, 15 energy projects are planned as priority with a total capacity of 11,110MW. Among which, 11 are under construction or in operation with a total capacity of 6,910MW.
To help the “iron brothers” in need, many Chinese engineers headed for the country from afar, worked shoulder in shoulder with Pakistani colleagues, sometimes day and night. Recently, many friends told me that there is less load-shedding, making this summer more enjoyable. This is really good news to me, and the CPEC workers from both countries, he added.
Developing China-Pakistan relations has always been the priority of China’s neighborhood diplomacy. China is looking forward to strengthening cooperation with the new Pakistani government, bringing more dividends of CPEC to the grassroots and general public in Pakistan, making it a model project for the benefits of both peoples, he added.
He assured that China will actively promote investment to Pakistan. The Chinese Government will firmly promote industrial cooperation, expand China’s direct investment to Pakistan, and encourage Chinese enterprises to actively participate in the construction of special economic zones. China’s focus of cooperation will be upgrading Pakistan’s manufacturing capacity and expansion of export-oriented industry.