China has announced it will be launching more projects within the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and insisted that recent cooperation between the two countries has improved since the project was initiated.
Speaking at his regular press conference, Lu Kang, Spokesperson for China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, claimed the recent election of Imran Khan’s new government had meant the relationship between Beijing and Islamabad had continued to strengthen,
CPEC is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an infrastructure project that includes the regeneration of ports and railways and researching smart container terminal technologies; it is estimated to cost USD $900 billion.
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A significant part of CPEC is the expansion and rejuvenation of the Pakistani port of Gwadar, all with the aim of turning Pakistan into a trade and transhipment hub.
Speaking about relations between China and Pakistan, Kang said: “China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners for cooperation. In recent years, our bilateral ties have been operating at a high level.
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“Since the formation of the new Pakistani government, China-Pakistan relations have maintained a sound momentum of growth.
“Going forward, there will be more high-level exchanges between the two sides. Steady progress has been made in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and practical cooperation across the board. Cultural and people-to-people exchanges have also become more frequent.
“Our two countries maintain good coordination and cooperation on major international and regional issues.
“We are convinced that with the concerted efforts of our two sides, China-Pakistan ties will continuously make new headways”.