China ready to work with Pakistan on building ‘upgraded version’ of CPEC

Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong has said that China is willing to work with Pakistan to focus on building an ‘upgraded version’ of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Talking to students after attending a Chinese language competition at the National University of Modern Languages Islamabad, Ambassador Jiang Zaidong said China and Pakistan are All-Weather Strategic Partners and iron-clad friends. He said the China-Pakistan friendship has stood the test of the times and is as solid and stable as Mount Tai.

He said the political foundation of China-Pakistan relations is extremely strong. In particular, President Xi Jinping and the leaders of Pakistan have taken the helm and led the development of bilateral relations, set the positioning of China-Pakistan All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership, and carried forward the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor from “1+4” basic layout to a new stage of building an “upgraded version”. Since the beginning of this year, President Xi Jinping has maintained close communication with President Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz and reached important consensus. We are willing to work with Pakistan to better implement the consensus, and speed up the building of a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.

He said the economic foundation of China-Pakistan relations is very solid. In particular, CPEC, as an important landmark project in the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, 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. We are willing to work with Pakistan to focus on building an “upgraded version” of CPEC, further consolidate, expand and deepen practical cooperation in various fields, continuously improve the all-weather strategic cooperation level between China and Pakistan, and better help Pakistan develop its economy and improve people’s livelihood.

He said the mass foundation of the China-Pakistan relations is particularly solid, according to what I have heard and seen after I came to Pakistan. There are builders who have worked hard for the early implementation of the CPEC project, tens of thousands of entrepreneurs who have returned from studying in China, and also friendly envoys like all of you here who learn Chinese, understand China, and carry forward China-Pakistan friendship. It is you who have made the tree of China-Pakistan friendship deeply rooted and flourish. We are willing to work with Pakistan to further enhance people’s livelihood, strengthen people-to-people exchanges, continue the special friendship between the two countries, and consolidate the foundation of bilateral cooperation.

To another question, the ambassador said under the visionary leadership of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese people have worked hard together to write a new chapter in the miracle of achieving economic development and long-term social stability, opening up a new pattern of benefiting the world and promoting building a community with a shared future for mankind. “We have maintained the world’s second largest economy, and our average contribution to world economic growth has exceeded 30% for the past 10 consecutive years; we have made victory in poverty alleviation, lifting nearly 100 million rural poor people out of poverty, and our contribution to world poverty alleviation has exceeded 70%; We promote the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” and have achieved more than 3,000 cooperation projects, driving nearly one trillion US dollars in investment. Currently, we are thoroughly implementing the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, further deepening reforms and comprehensively promoting Chinese modernization. We are willing to provide the world with new opportunities of Chinese modernization and benefit our iron brother Pakistan first, working together to create a bright future for common prosperity and people’s well-being.”

Regarding Pakistan’s development, he said Pakistan has a superior geographical location and is known as the “pivot of Asia”; secondly, Pakistan has a huge demographic dividend, with people under the age of 30 accounting for more than 60%; thirdly, Pakistan is rich in natural resources, ranking fifth in cotton production, sixth in mango production and seventh in wheat production in the world. In addition, Pakistan ranks first in pink salt reserve and second in coal reserve in the globe. Especially when confronting complex and severe exterior situations, Pakistani new government has led the people to unite and work hard to achieve economic stabilization and improvement. The GDP has turned from negative to positive, and it is expected that the new growth will be achieved in the new fiscal year. The inflation rate has been reduced to the lowest level since the past five years and foreign exchange reserve has achieved the highest since the past two years. The foreign exports have increased by 14% in the first two months of the new fiscal year. We are sincerely glad for our Pakistani brothers and sisters and are full of confidence with your country’s development prospects.

To a question, the ambassador said China and Pakistan have always maintained close coordination and cooperation to effectively safeguard international fairness and justice and the common interests of developing countries.

The ambassador said as an iron-clad friend of Pakistan, while providing talents for promoting China’s modernization, we are also willing to train talents for Pakistan through educational cooperation.