Mohammad Rizwan Malik
ISLAMABAD:-The relationship between Pakistan and China has built on the strength of its successive achievements, and has become formidable with each passing day and year. The leadership of both countries is committed to take this relationship ahead. Pakistan was one of the first countries that recognized the People’s Republic of China. Pakistan considers China as one of its closest friends and partners and China considers Pakistan as its “Iron Brother”.
The bilateral relationship between the two neighboring countries is characterized by feelings of mutual trust, respect and goodwill towards each other. There is a regular exchange of visits at the highest level between the two countries. The strategic cooperation between Pakistan and China has grown over the past several decades.
Economically, China is Pakistan’s largest trading partner and a major investor, especially in the infrastructure and energy sector. With the official launch of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the bilateral relationship has been elevated to a higher level. CPEC is a flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s initiative of “One Road and One Belt”. It aims at enhancing connectivity and improving infrastructure between Pakistan and China. Several projects are being implemented under CPEC, for enhancement of infrastructure and generation of energy. People-to-people contacts are an important aspect of the bilateral relationship.
Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin-ul-Haque said:
“Economic Corridor will play a vital role in the future economic development of Pakistan, with the Gwadar port as the main component. The CPEC is one of the most important flagship projects of the five corridors launched under the Belt and Road Initiative. Half of its projects have already been executed. Under the first phase of the CPEC, several major energy projects including hydro, wind and solar projects were executed”.
“The second component of the CPEC is infrastructure, highways, waterways and bridges which have been built across Pakistan, improving the communication and road infrastructure. The important part of physical infrastructure was laying the fiber optic link from the Chinese border to Pakistan to help the communication network. The third important component of the first phase was the Gwadar port which is almost complete and functional”.
“A large number of Chinese companies are setting their businesses there. The country has entered into phase two which is even more important and focused on industrialization, agriculture, social well-being of the people, poverty alleviation and green economy. We have also launched recently China-Pakistan healthcare corridor, digital corridor, green corridor. Under the Green Corridor, we are focusing on agriculture and food security, and in the digital corridor, we are benefiting from China’s experience and expertise in the IT sector and industry”.
“The government is developing special economic zones and encouraging relocation of Chinese industries to Pakistan not only to help the domestic market, but also to the region and exporting to other countries. Terming the CPEC a broad framework of economic development for Pakistan and also for the region, as the Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has rightly linked it with the economic future of Pakistan, “he concluded.
