ISLAMABAD: Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong on Wednesday said the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would continue to be the “backbone” of Pakistan’s geo-economic transformation, aligning with the country’s development agenda and opening avenues for regional connectivity.
“With China as Pakistan’s all-weather strategic partner and CPEC as the backbone, Pakistan can extend th i s corridor to Afghanistan, Iran and beyond, enhancing connectivity and trade facilitation across Central, South and West Asia and reinforcing its regional influence, thereby accelerating the strategic shift from geopolitics to geo-economics,” the envoy told the “CPEC in My Eyes” forum at a hotel here.
He said CPEC, as the flagship pilot project of the Belt and Road Initiative, ha d laid a solid foundation for Pakistan’s economic development.
Jiang said since Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistani leaders agreed on the “1+4” cooperation structure in 2013, the Corridor had grown into a full-spectrum programme with 11 working groups covering virtually every sector.
He added that the initiative had become a vivid testament to the all-weather friendship between China and Pakistan and a shining name card for our all-dimensional cooperation.
Highlighting progress, the envoy noted that CPEC had brought $25.4 billion in direct investment, built 510 km of motorways, added over 8,000MW to the power system and delivered 886 km of transmission lines since its launch in 2013.
He cited Gwadar Port’s transformation, the Sukkur-Multan Motorway and new energy projects as examples of infrastructure changing Pakistan’s development landscape.
He said Gwadar Port, China’s flagship project, was changing with each passing day: a state-of-the-art port, the East Bay Expressway, and the new Gwadar International Airport built to 4F standards had together forged a modern, multi-modal transport network that was turning Gwadar into a regional trade and logistics hub.
“After 12 years of dedicated effort, CPEC has become the earliest, broadest and most fruitful flagship project under the Belt and Road framework, a strategic programme with exemplary significance.”
Jiang noted that in Gwadar, the Chinese-aided upgrade of the Friendship Hospital had already served 90,000 patients; the 5,000-ton-per-day desalination plant had eased water scarcity; the Technical and Vocational Training Institute, already handed over, could train 3,000 people each year, and the Faqeer Primary School had become a sought-after centre of quality education.
T he envoy said CPEC w as being upgraded into an “enhanced version” featuring five corridors: growth, livelihood, innovation, green and open.
Rejecting criticism, Jiang said the so-called ‘CPEC slowdown’, ‘CPEC uselessness’ or ‘CPEC exploitation’ narratives peddled by certain quarters ran counter to facts and were driven by ulterior motives.”
