As the tenth anniversary of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first speeches proposing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) approaches, China and Pakistan have celebrated the first decade of what is widely considered its flagship project, namely the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which links the port of Gwadar, in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, with Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and which highlights energy, transport and industrial cooperation, in particular.
In a July 31 letter to a celebration event held in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, President Xi said that China will work with Pakistan to aim for high-standard, sustainable, and livelihood-enhancing outcomes and further build CPEC into an exemplary project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.
CPEC, he continued, has added new impetus to the economic and social development of Pakistan and laid a good foundation for regional connectivity and integration, adding that it is a vivid testament to the all-weather friendship between China and Pakistan, and provides an important underpinning for building an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.
Stressing that China and Pakistan will continue to improve overall planning and expand and deepen cooperation, Xi said that no matter how the international landscape may change, China will always stand firmly with Pakistan.
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng participated in the Islamabad celebration, held on August 1, as Xi’s special representative. As well as reading the Chinese President’s letter, he delivered a speech, calling for an upgrading of CPEC to better promote a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future.
In his speech, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that the remarkable achievements of CPEC’s construction have profoundly transformed Pakistan’s economic and social landscape. Pakistan is willing to learn from China’s development experience, deepen cooperation with China in various fields, and pursue a path of self-reliance and strength, so as to better benefit the peoples of both countries.
Meanwhile, in an August 4 telephone conversation between the two countries’ foreign ministers, Wang Yi said that, no matter how the international situation and Pakistan’s domestic situation change, China will, as always, firmly support Pakistan in defending national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, firmly support Pakistan in maintaining unity and stability, in realizing revitalization and development, and will firmly support Pakistan to play a bigger and more active role in international and regional affairs.
His Pakistani counterpart, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the Pakistan-China friendship has been passed down from generation to generation and is unshakable and full of vitality.
The following articles were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.
Xi says China to work with Pakistan to build CPEC into exemplary project of high-quality B&R cooperation
BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday China will work with Pakistan to aim for high-standard, sustainable and livelihood-enhancing outcomes and further build the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into an exemplary project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.
Xi made the remarks in a congratulatory message to the Decade of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor celebration event held in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Xi pointed out that CPEC is an important pioneering project of the Belt and Road cooperation. Since its launch in 2013, China and Pakistan have been advancing CPEC under the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and have achieved a number of early harvests.
This has added new impetus to the economic and social development of Pakistan and laid a good foundation for regional connectivity and integration, he said, adding that it is a vivid testament to the all-weather friendship between China and Pakistan, and provides an important underpinning for building an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.
Stressing that China and Pakistan will continue to improve overall planning and expand and deepen cooperation, Xi said no matter how the international landscape may change, China will always stand firmly with Pakistan.
Xi added China and Pakistan will continue to work hand in hand and forge ahead in solidarity to carry forward the ironclad friendship, coordinate development and security, pursue cooperation of higher standards, broader scope and greater depth, and take the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership to new heights, so as to make even greater contribution to peace and prosperity in the two countries and the broader region.
Chinese president’s special representative calls for upgrading CPEC development
ISLAMABAD, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, the special representative of Chinese President Xi Jinping, called for an upgrading of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to promote a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.
He made the remarks on Monday while attending the Decade of CPEC celebration event in the Pakistani capital, during which he read President Xi’s congratulatory letter and delivered a speech.
In his congratulatory letter, President Xi fully recognized the positive achievements and great significance of the construction of CPEC, which provided strategic guidance for the development of the corridor and the practical cooperation between China and Pakistan, He said.
Over the past 10 years, the construction of CPEC has adhered to the Silk Road spirit and yielded fruitful, mutually beneficial and win-win results, creating a successful practice of jointly building the Belt and Road, the special representative said.
He called for earnest implementation of the spirit of President Xi’s congratulatory letter, creating an upgraded version of CPEC, and jointly building a growth corridor, a livelihood-enhancing corridor, an innovation corridor, a green corridor and an open corridor.
In his speech, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed his appreciation to President Xi for attaching great importance to Pakistan-China ties and CPEC, and for the support of the Chinese government and its people towards Pakistan.
The remarkable achievements of CPEC’s construction have profoundly transformed Pakistan’s economic and social landscape, Shahbaz said.
Pakistan is willing to learn from China’s development experience, deepen cooperation with China in various fields, and pursue a path of self-reliance and strength, so as to better benefit the peoples of both countries, the prime minister said.
On Monday, Pakistani President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Shahbaz and Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir met with He respectively. Both sides exchanged in-depth views on deepening traditional friendship and expanding practical cooperation, among other issues.
Launched in 2013, CPEC is a corridor linking the Gwadar port in southwestern Pakistan with Kashgar in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which highlights energy, transport and industrial cooperation.
China to help Pakistan achieve sustainable development: FM
BEIJING, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) — China is willing to work with Pakistan to achieve more practical results in building the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and support Pakistan’s sustainable development, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Friday.
Talking on the phone at the request of Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said that the iron-clad friendship between China and Pakistan has stood tests and is rock-solid.
No matter how the international situation and Pakistan’s domestic situation change, China will, as always, firmly support Pakistan in defending national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, firmly support Pakistan in maintaining unity and stability, realizing revitalization and development, and firmly support Pakistan to play a bigger and more active role in international and regional affairs, Wang said.
For his part, Bilawal said the Pakistan-China friendship has been passed down from generation to generation, and is unshakable and full of vitality.
Pakistan appreciates China’s various support in difficult times, and is willing to work with China to continue supporting each other, promote the upgrading of the CPEC, build demonstration projects of the Belt and Road cooperation, and lift the bilateral friendship to higher levels, he added.
