The Consul General (CG) of the People’s Republic of China Yang Yundong visited the office of All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) here on Wednesday. Addressing a program organized in his honour, Yang Yundong said the 3rd Belt and Road Forum (BRF) will be held in Beijing on October 17 and 18 in which more than 130 countries and over 30 International organizations have committed to participate. The Chinese Consul General said the Belt and Road Forum under the theme of “High-quality Belt and Road Cooperation: Together for Common Development and Prosperity will provide an opportunity for progress and development of the region and the globe.
The Consul General said in March 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed the vision of a global community of a shared future; in September and October of that year, he raised the initiatives of joining with others to build a Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (This is the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI). The BRI is a creative development that takes on and carries forward the spirit of the ancient silk routes.
It enriches the ancient spirit with the zeitgeist and culture of the new era and provides a platform for building a global community of shared futures, Yang said and added that 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of BRI.
Over the past decade, the BRI has established more than 3,000 cooperation projects and galvanized nearly USD 1 trillion of investment, creating an array of national landmarks, livelihood projects and milestones of cooperation. Referring to China Pakistan Economic Corridor project, Yang Yundong said this is a pilot project of the BRI and a landmark project for China-Pakistan cooperation in the new era.
Over the past decade, CPEC has brought $25.4 billion in direct investment to Pakistan, accumulated revenues of 17.55 billion US dollars, tax payments of $ 2.12 billion, created 192,000 job opportunities and assisted Pakistan in adding 6,000 megawatts of electricity, 510 kilometers of highways, and 886 kilometers of the national grid. He said the Media is also playing a vital role in cooperation between China and Pakistan. The CPEC needs to be fully understood by the people of the two countries. The media of China and Pakistan bear social responsibilities for this and must strive to exert positive energy. The Consul General said he was glad to visit the office of All Pakistan Newspapers Society and he was the first Consul General to visit society of Newspaper owners.
We need to work together to tell the real story of the CPEC and China-Pakistan friendly cooperation and become an important window for the international community to understand the corridor and a witness, practitioner, and contributor to building a China-Pakistan community with a shared future, he added.
He said the Chinese media sector had made several advancements according to the needs of the modern age. We welcome Pakistani media and APNS taking benefit from it. The door of the Consulate General of China in Karachi is always open to all media friends and we are happy to get suggestions from the APNS for boosting the China-Pakistan relations, better development of CPEC and media exchanges and collaborations. We are looking forward to working with all of you to strengthen the “iron-clad” friendship between China and Pakistan and promote friendly cooperation. Earlier, APNS president NazAfreen, Secretary General Sarmad Ali and other office bearers accorded a warm welcome to visiting guests and they also presented a welcome address.
