LAHORE – The Chinese Consulate in Lahore hosted a reception to mark the 77th National Day of the People’s Republic of China, bringing together political, government, diplomatic, business, academic and media representatives.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Muhammad Ahmad Khan, addressing the ceremony, praised China’s remarkable development and said he had personally witnessed its progress during his recent visit to the country.
He said the 75 years of friendship between Pakistan and China had been “very remarkable” and expressed confidence that the next 75 years would see the relationship become even deeper.
Sharing his experiences from China, the speaker said he had visited a highly developed village where local residents were responsible for tax collection and used the revenue for the village’s development.
“He said no instructions came from Beijing and the villagers managed their own expenditures,” according to his account. He added that, after finding the system difficult to believe, he visited another village and observed the same practice there. His account drew an appreciative response from participants.
Chinese Consul General Sun Yan congratulated guests on China’s National Day and described Pakistan-China friendship, mutual cooperation and expanding bilateral relations as important areas of progress. He reaffirmed China’s commitment to further strengthening cooperation between the two countries at every level.
Speaking about China’s development, Sun Yan said the Chinese people had pursued “the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics” through unity, continuous efforts and experience, resulting in rapid economic development and long-term social stability.
He highlighted China’s achievements in poverty reduction, technology and emerging industries, including artificial intelligence and new energy vehicles. He said China had won “the largest battle against poverty in human history,” established a moderately prosperous society and embarked on a new journey toward building a modern socialist country.
The consul general said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was advancing toward its upgraded CPEC 2.0, with both sides focusing on agriculture, industry and mining and working toward five areas covering development, livelihoods, innovation, green development and openness.
He said China would seek to better align its 15th Five-Year Plan with Pakistan’s federal Uraan Pakistan programme and Punjab’s PIVOT initiative.
“ We will accelerate cooperation in agriculture, textiles, new energy, digital economy, industrial parks and other sectors,” Sun Yan said, adding that the objective was to strengthen Punjab’s economic resilience and capacity for self-reliant development.
The ceremony began with the national anthems of Pakistan and China and concluded with a cake-cutting ceremony. A large number of diplomats and prominent figures from political, official, business, academic and media circles attended the event.
