Former Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing has said that the economic and trade exchanges between Pakistan and China have gradually expanded over the past 20 years.
“Personnel exchanges have continuously deepened. The joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative has been intensified and the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has achieved remarkable results,” former Chinese ambassador, who now serves as director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, told China Economic Net in an interview. “Moreover, China-Pakistan community of common destiny will become closer in the new era,” he added.
Yao Jing said Pakistan responded actively after the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed in 2013. “In 2015, China-Pakistan relations upgraded from a strategic partnership to All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership, led by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and focused on Gwadar Port, energy, transportation infrastructure and industrial cooperation. The two countries formed a “1+4″ layout of economic cooperation. On April 20, 2015, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project was officially launched, becoming a key part of the practical cooperation between the two countries to create a community of common destiny,” he further said. “Since then, the corridor has gradually become the first pilot area, demonstration area, and innovation area of the Belt and Road Initiative. Especially under the influence of the pandemic, the corridor construction has made a series of significant progress in overcoming the impact of the rising trend,” he added.
“I think it is a stage of consolidation and expansion, a stage where the economic development of China and Pakistan will truly benefit the lives of the two peoples from 2017 to 2020,” he said. “I believe that Pakistan’s support and participation in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, from the top leaders to the various government departments, are increasing unabated,” he went on to say. “That’s because the design of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and its actual role are completely motivated by Pakistan’s own economic needs and completely motivated by the need to improve the people’s livelihood in Pakistan,” he added.
Yao Jing, who has left from Pakistan for half a year, sits in the office of the People’s Government of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and contributes to China-Pakistan friendship in another way. In order to speed up the construction of the core area of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Party Committee and government have put forward a series of proposals, placing the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in a more important position and continuously promoting the development of economic and trade exchanges with Pakistan in a broader space. Xinjiang borders Pakistan. They are closely connected to each other both in history and in the present, in terms of culture and in economy and trade.
In the process of constructing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, almost all the personnel, materials and equipments are transferred to Pakistan through Xinjiang. Many large enterprises directly build production bases in Xinjiang.
China provides Pakistan with this channel, which provides a good platform for Pakistan to expand its foreign economic and trade ties and expand its foreign relations. Pakistan can benefit from Xinjiang’s stability and development. Xinjiang can also benefit from China-Pakistan economic and trade cooperation and the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. So this is a win-win and mutually beneficial result.