ISLAMABAD – China and Pakistan will join hands in building a closercommunity of shared future in the new era against the backdrop of changinginternational landscapes, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing has said.

“The closer China-Pakistan community of shared future in the new era is aconcrete measure taken by leaders of the two countries as per the conceptof building a new type of international relations and a community of ashared future for all mankind,” Yao told Xinhua in an interview. AChina-Pakistan joint statement in this regard was released in November lastyear when Prime Minister Imran Khan made his first visit to China.

“The closer community of shared future in the new era is based on mutualtrust, friendship and amity, as well as shared interests and politicalconsensus reached between the two countries and two peoples on the Belt andRoad Initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),” theambassador said.

CPEC, a major pilot project of the China-proposed Silk Road Economic Beltand the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, is connecting Gwadar port insouthwestern Pakistan with Kashgar in west China’s Xinjiang UyghurAutonomous Region.

CPEC has brought about drastic changes to Pakistan’s socio-economicdevelopment over the past five years. During Prime Minister Khan’s anothervisit to China in April, the two countries signed a deal on the firstindustrial park and future industrial cooperation.

“Under a memorandum of understanding inked between China and Pakistan toimprove people’s livelihood, the two neighbouring countries signed 27projects on agriculture, education, healthcare, water resources, vocationaltraining and poverty alleviation,” Yao said. “By meeting Pakistani people’sneeds, the China-Pakistan cooperation will bring more tangible benefits toPakistanis,” he added.

As part of the international cooperation under the Belt and RoadInitiative, the CPEC should be instrumental to regional cooperation,interconnectivity and common development, the Chinese envoy pointed out. Athird party will be invited to participate in the next phase development ofCPEC, he added.

The first meeting of the CPEC International Cooperation CoordinationWorking Group was held in Beijing in April to build CPEC as a platform forregional cooperation, development and prosperity.

Fostering people-to-people’s bonds always remain a priority of the Belt andRoad cooperation between China and Pakistan, according to Yao.“Chinese-donated Faqeer Primary School in Gwadar has become one of the bestlocal schools, where students have increased to nearly 500 from 150 overthe past five years,” he said. “China also helped build a medical centre inGwadar which has provided health services for the local people,” he added,noting that vocational training institutes have been set up in Quetta andLahore to help address youth employment in Pakistan.

In recent years, civic groups, training schools and local institutionsacross the country have been seeking exchanges and cooperation with Chinain education, culture and sports, Yao said. “The Belt and Road Initiativehas yielded such appealing results that the Pakistani people have beengetting increasingly enthusiastic about participating in the Chineseprojects and agreeing with the Chinese concepts,” he added.

With regard to China-Pakistan relations, Yao said a new era has beenushered in and a new prospect is just around the corner. “There will beplenty of opportunities for both countries.”