ISLAMABAD: Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong has said that China firmly supports Pakistan in safeguarding its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions, in resolutely combating terrorism, and in playing a greater role in international and regional affairs.
While addressing to the inauguration ceremony of the “Esthetic Bridges” exhibition on Sunday, ambassador said that, faced with the current turbulent international and regional situation, China will, as always, enhance solidarity and collaboration with Pakistan to safeguard the fundamental interests of both countries and international fairness and justice, and jointly promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally-beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.
Ambassador also said that, we stand firmly together, continuing and passing down the traditional friendship between China and Pakistan. From the 1960s to the present, while the Pakistani population has grown from 46 million to more than 240 million, Pakistan’s GDP has increased from less than $19 billion to nearly $400 billion. Currently, the Pakistani government is advancing its reform agenda in full force, stabilizing and improving the economy, achieving growth in both exports and investments, reaching new highs in foreign reserves and remittances, with an expected GDP growth of more than 3%. Over the past 11 years, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has made significant contributions to strengthening Pakistan’s development foundation and improving the well-being of Pakistani people, said ambassador
He also said that, as Chinese modernization advances comprehensively and the concept of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind gains widespread support, we are ready to continue providing new opportunities for the development of our ironclad friend Pakistan through the new achievements of Chinese modernization. We stand firmly together, committed to creating miracles of development. As the founding father of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, once said, “We are not afraid of the deep sea or the fire, because we believe in the sun and the future”. For 85 years, the brotherly people of Pakistan have proactively pursued the great dream of building a strong and prosperous nation, told ambassador.
Ambassador also added that we stand firmly together, hand in hand, to create a brighter tomorrow. In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s historic state visit to Pakistan elevated our bilateral relationship to All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership, opening a new chapter in China-Pakistan relations. Since the establishment of the current Pakistani government a year ago, we have maintained close high-level exchanges. He noted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited China in last June; Premier Li Qiang visited Pakistan in last October; President Zardari visited China this February, all these visits fully demonstrated the closeness of our ironclad friendship and the high level of all-weather strategic cooperation. Under the care and promotion of the leaders of both countries, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has entered a new phase of building an “upgraded version”, providing new opportunities for high-quality development of practical cooperation between the two countries. Let us join hands and shoulders, while guided by the important consensus reached between our national leaders, to focus on building an even closer China-Pakistan Community with a Shared Future in the New Era, and continuously consolidate, deepen and expand the all-weather strategic cooperation between China and Pakistan, to jointly creating a brighter future for China-Pakistan friendship.
