Daily Times

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui in Beijing on Tuesday and said that Pak-China friendship was a precious asset of every Pakistani, adding that completion of China Pakistan Economic Corridor would change the destiny of the region.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui on the occasion said that China had always stood by Pakistan and would continue to help Pakistan achieve progress and prosperity. He said that China would extend all out cooperation to Pakistan to enhance productive capacity of industrial sector and this cooperation would also include construction of industries and transfer of technology.

He said that Pakistan would be among China’s priorities in the programme of shifting of Chinese industries to other countries and would assist Pakistan in any industrial sector.

Shahbaz Sharif, while addressing the signing ceremony of different agreements and memorandums of understanding between government and private companies of China and Pakistan at the Pakistan Embassy in Beijing, said that Pakistani traders and industrialists have a golden opportunity in the form of Chinese cooperation and they should benefit from it for the promotion of mutual trade as well as progress and prosperity of the country.

As many as seven agreements and 17 MoUs were signed during the ceremony. These agreements pertained to textile industry, establishment of industrial estates, training of master trainers in different skills, promotion of trade fairs and exhibitions, energy, infrastructure, water treatment and other sectors.

Shahbaz said that in the background of Pak-China cooperation, a new history would be written in the form of implementation of these agreements. The chief minister added that pace of implementation of development projects in Pakistan under CPEC was unprecedented.

Addressing Pakistani industrialists and traders who signed the agreements, he said the government and people of Pakistan expect them to work on these agreements at the same speed.

Meanwhile, the chief minister, while talking to the representatives of Chinese print and electronic media, news agencies and radio at the Pakistan Embassy, said that Pak-China love and friendship was based on golden principle of honesty, trust and transparency. He said that people of China and Pakistan should learn each other’s languages in order to enhance people-to-people contacts. He said that there was a need for visits of delegations of traders, industrialists besides scientists, artists, students and teachers.

In reply to a question, the chief minister said that Pakistan was standing by China in South China sea dispute, One China Policy, territorial rights along with other issues and has supported the stance of China at all international forums. He further said that a number of Pakistani students were learning Chinese language in China would be increased next year.

Addressing the students, Shahbaz said that Punjab government had sent them to China at its expenses to learn Chinese language. He said that Pakistani students were extremely talented and learning the Chinese language was the need of the hour.

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif also met Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank President Jin Liqun in Beijing. While giving assurance of provision of funds on priority basis for the projects being completed with Chinese cooperation, Liqun said that experience of Chinese financial institutions working in Pakistan has been very good and there would be no shortage of resources for the projects in future as well.

The chief minister on the occasion said that due to provision of resources by the Chinese banks, the pace of work on the projects was enviable and every penny of funds was being spent with honesty. He said that completion of projects with Chinese cooperation would benefit scores of Pakistanis.