Chinese Consul General affirms unbreakable China-Pakistan friendship and CPEC development

KARACHI: Consul General of China, Yang Yundong has emphasised that no attempt to undermine China-Pakistan friendship and the construction of CPEC will succeed.

Speaking at a meeting with 42-member delegation of Pakistan Chemicals and Dyes Merchant Association (PCDMA) at Chinese Consulate, he said China has confidence, determination, and the capability to work together with Pakistan to overcome all difficulties and challenges, and to ensure that the development of our relations remains steady and moves forward in the long run.

He hoped that the business community, especially PCDMA and Pakistan Philatelic and Numismatics Forum (PPNF), will play a greater role in the future, expanding the scope of cooperation, promoting the success story of China-Pakistan collaboration, further enhancing people-to-people connectivity between our two countries, and creating a broader and more profound impact.

He noticed that not long ago, many members of PCDMA visited China and participated in some trade fairs. He believed this trip has deepened and expanded the cooperative partnership with China, achieving satisfactory results.

He said amid the multiple global and domestic challenges that it faces, China is actively bolstering the recovery momentum of its economy.

In the first half of this year, China’s economy grew by 5.5% year-on-year, significantly outpacing the 3% growth rate of last year, and notably faster than that of the world’s major developed economies, exhibiting strong resilience.

Also in the first half of the year, China’s import and export volume exceeded 20 trillion Yuan, setting a new historical record for the same period and showing a year-on-year growth of 2.1%, and China’s share in global trade remained relatively stable.

He said the achievements we have made are inseparable from the hard work of the Chinese people and the cooperation between China and its foreign partners, among which Pakistani businessmen have made outstanding contributions.

China has been Pakistan’s largest trading partner for eight consecutive years: Pakistan’s largest source of imports and second largest export destination, and Pakistan’s largest source of foreign direct investment.

According to latest figures of the State Bank of Pakistan, in the financial year 2023, Pakistan received USD432.7 million of foreign direct investment (FDI) from China, accounting for 30.09% of the total FDI coming to Pakistan. China continues to be the largest source of FDI in Pakistan.

Not long ago, for the first time Pakistan’s seafood was transported by land along the CPEC from Karachi to Kashi, Xinjiang, China. Pakistan’s exports of sugars and sugar confectionery crossed USD 18 million in the first half of 2023. Also according to General Administration of Customs of China, Pakistan Himalayan pink salt exported to China reached USD4.96 million in 2021 and 5.75 million in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 15.7%. In May this year, about two hundred of entrepreneurs from China came to Karachi to participate the 4th TEXPO, and another hundreds of Chinese businessmen came again to attend the Food and Agri Expo in Karachi a few days ago.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of CPEC. 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. 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.

Looking into the future, China is willing to work with Pakistan to adhere to high standards, sustainability, and benefiting the people, to expand and deepen the industrial cooperation, including agriculture, manufacturing and textiles, and making the CPEC an exemplary project for high-quality BRI cooperation, he said.

The development of China-Pakistan relations and CPEC will create more opportunities for business community, though it faces some challenges, such as attempts by certain forces to sow discord and smear the cooperation between the two countries, especially attacking and discrediting the CPEC. Terrorism also poses a constant threat to this cooperation.