Imran Khan rejoices China trip, sees acceleration in work on CPEC projects
Gwadar Pro
Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan said this week that he rejoiced his recent trip to China and said the visit will accelerate the pace of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.
In a meeting with former ambassadors and representatives of think tanks here, PM Khan maintained that that his recent visit to China from February 3 to 6 was very relevant with regard to the fast-changing global political map. Federal ministers and PM’s special assistants were also present in the interaction.
He remarked that his bilateral meetings with the Chinese leadership will further strength the time-tested ties.
The PM mentioned that the Chinese leadership had appreciated his government’s steps to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic indicators which were positive reaffirmed the economic support to Pakistan through specific projects.
The PM recalled that he held the meeting with the Chinese President Xi Jinping after a period of two years since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. “These bilateral meetings added further impetus to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects, completely trashing an impression over the slow-paced work on these projects,” he added.
Referring to the functioning of the Chinese government, the PM lauded that when the Chinese government takes a decision, it is implemented, but in Pakistan, “we lack such synergy among the federal and provincial governments.”
In China, he appreciated the whole country working for wealth creation. He pledged to remove all the hurdles in the way of CPEC Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
During the Beijing Winter Olympics, he stated that the Chinese crowd warmly cheered the Pakistani contingent, reflecting how deeply rooted these ties had been between the two countries.
He noted that in China, they have meritocracy and rule of law. “About 400 ministerial-level people have been held accountable over corruption charges which had increased the popularity of President Xi Jinping,” he observed.
Speaking on the occasion, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that PM Imran Khan’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping was marked with great outstanding. He added that the clarity he witnessed over such meetings had not happened in the past which was another encouraging sign.
The FM further informed that the leadership of the two countries conveyed clear messages over the core issues. “They removed certain concerns over the CPEC projects which were not based upon facts. The spoilers against CPEC had been playing their negative parts,” he contended.
In his comments, Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin said that China had helped in building infrastructure and connectivity projects under CPEC and now they would support the establishment of SEZs, so that trickle-down effects could be fully reaped.
On the occasion, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry claimed the government had completed seven CPEC projects in the last three years. Besides, the completion of 453- kilometer road projects was achieved. A further investment of $3.45 billion had been made, he underscored.
