Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani Saturday said that Pakistan and China share a common objective of regional development and both the countries can play a vital role in shaping the destiny of Asia. The chairman expressed these views during a meeting with 15-member Chinese parliamentary delegation at the Parliament House. The Chinese delegation was led by Zhang Chunxian, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress(NPC). Sanjrani said Pakistan values its cordial and friendly relations with China and wants to further expand ties by opening up new vistas of cooperation. He greeted the Chinese side for organizing a successful international import expo and hoped that it would further pave the way for enhancing trade and economic links. He said the event was organized at a time when Prime Minister Imran Khan was visiting China and it explored new avenues of bilateral cooperation besides holding high level meetings. He said Pakistan takes pride in its ties with China. “Relations between the two are time-tested and have strengthened with the passage of time,” he said. The Senate chairman appreciated Chinese President Xi Jinping’s vision of shared prosperity and, especially, the steps taken for social development through which millions of people have been lifted out of poverty by improving their standard of living. He said the agenda of domestic reforms of the current government including improving governance, poverty alleviation and crackdown on corruption resonates closely with President Xi’s agenda of national development. Leader of the Chinese delegation welcomed the remarks and said that boosting bilateral trade is highly important for both the countries. He said development of Gwadar would further accelerate the growth and development in the country. He also underscored the need for institutional cooperation at parliamentary other levels between the two countries. He said investment in the industrial sector in Gwadar would not only bring prosperity to the city but also to whole of the country. The Chinese side assured that students from Balochistan would be given technical education to enable them benefit from the local employment opportunities. Published in Daily Times, November 11th 2018.