Daily Times

BEIJING: Expressing pleasure over the progress of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Wang Wenbin Friday said that this flagship project has achieved new outcomes and entered a stage of high-quality development.

We are glad to see that CPEC has achieved new outcomes and entered a stage of high-quality development, he said while responding to a question asked during his regular press conference held here at the International Press Center (IPC). He also referred to the National Development Reforms Commission (NDRC) briefing in which a spokesperson of the Commission gave an update on the new progress of the CPEC development.

In his remarks, Wang Wenbin said that the Chinese side was glad to see that CPEC has achieved new outcomes and entered a stage of high-quality development and added. This is a demonstration of China- Pakistan friendship, and also an example of promoting the prosperity and development of countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

He said that the Chinese will work with Pakistan to implement the important consensus reached between the leadership of the two countries and build the CPEC into a demonstration project for BRI’s high-quality development and to boost the building of an even closer China-Pakistan shared community.

Earlier, Meng Wei, a Spokesperson of the NDRC during a press briefing said that the CPEC has entered a new phase of high-quality development after making significant achievements in a wide range of areas over the years. The CPEC has made significant progress, as expressways, vocational schools and power plants funded by China have been put into operation in Pakistan. The NDRC spokesperson also remarked that as a major pilot project of the Belt and Road Initiative, the CPEC will accelerate Pakistan’s socioeconomic development in multiple areas, including energy and transportation.

China and Pakistan will continue to strengthen cooperation focused on the Gwadar port, as well as energy and infrastructure projects, in order to promote the high-quality development of the CPEC, the spokesperson added.  On September 23, the Joint Council for Cooperation of the CPEC held a meeting, where five cooperation documents and three inter-enterprise cooperation agreements were signed.

Launched in 2013, CPEC, a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a corridor linking the Gwadar Port with Kashgar in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which highlights infrastructure, energy, and industrial cooperation.