Chinese Ambassador Mr Jiang Zaidong Tuesday said that China, Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has brought a total of US $25.4 billion in direct investment, 236000 jobs, 510km of highways, more than 8000 megawatts of electricity and 886km of core transmission network, continuously enhancing the capacity of sustainable development for Pakistan.
“As a landmark project of Belt and Road Initiative cooperation, batch after batch of projects have been launched, completed and put into operation under the framework of CPEC …
At the same time, counter-terrorism cooperation, defense cooperation and people-to-people exchanges are also fruitful, constantly enriching the connotation of all-weather strategic cooperation between the two countries,” said the Ambassador while addressing the audiences at a seminar titled “friendship forever” celebrating China Pakistan establishing 73 years of diplomatic relations at Pakistan-China center.
He said since the newly born People’s Republic of China established diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1951, the two countries have embarked on a new chapter of China-Pakistan friendship.
“It has evolved into an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership. From the Chinese tallow tree planted by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in Shakarparian Park in 1964, to the pine trees planted by President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the Prime Minister House in 2015, under the nurturing of the leaders of our two countries and the joint efforts of both sides, China-Pakistan friendship has grown into a towering tree, deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples,” he said.
He said over the past 73 years, leaders of the two countries frequently visited each other like close relatives, guiding the development of China-Pakistan relations. In 2015, President Xi Jinping’s historic state visit to Pakistan elevated the bilateral relations to all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, and set the goal of building an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, which provided fundamental principles and operational guidelines to the development of China-Pakistan relations, he added.
