Beijing: China has once again lauded Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s remarks on China’s development achievements, China-Pakistan relations, and the development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) before PM Shehbaz set off on his maiden official visit to the People’s Republic of China on Tuesday.
In a regular press conference, the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said: “We deeply appreciate Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s remarks. We believe they show the importance he attaches to his visit to China.”
Underlying the iron-clad relationship between the two countries, Zhao said: “China-Pakistan friendship has been carried on from generation to generation, and our two countries have always supported each other on issues concerning our respective major interests, and have stood together and helped each other in the face of major natural disasters.”
Zhao went on to say that as a flagship program of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), CPEC had become a landmark of China-Pakistan cooperation.
“[CPEC] has effectively boosted economic development, improved people’s livelihood, and generated positive socioeconomic effects in Pakistan. The recent 11th meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee of CPEC was a success. Multiple common understandings were reached about CPEC’s future development.”
He added that China warmly welcomes PM Shehbaz on his first official visit and looks forward to further advancing our high-level strategic cooperation and bringing more fruitful outcomes from our friendship to the benefit of the two peoples.
Pakistan needs to ’emulate’ Chinese development model: PM Shehbaz
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday that Pakistan strongly needed to emulate the Chinese model of development for its sustainable progress and prosperity.
He said that he looked forward to meeting the Chinese leadership for a series of “productive and fruitful meetings” aimed at boosting business, strategic and people-to-people relations. He termed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) a “game-changer” for development in Pakistan with billions of dollars of investment already committed by Chinese companies.
Pacing up the CPEC projects, he said, would not only boost dividends for Pakistan but also increase the country’s business presence in China. He stressed the relocation of the labour-intensive Chinese industry to Pakistan given the cheap local labour by establishing Special Economic Zones, calling it a win-win scenario for the business houses of both countries.
In addition, PM Shehbaz on Tuesday said that he was honoured to be among the first few leaders to have been invited after the historic 20th National Congress of the CPC.
My discussions with Chinese leadership will focus on revitalization of CPEC among many other things. 2nd phase of CPEC promises to usher in a new era of socio-economic progress that will uplift quality of our people's lives. There is a lot to learn from Chinese economic miracle. https://t.co/A6knRLzN6l
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) November 1, 2022
