CPEC a landmark project in Sino-Pak ties: spokesperson

BEIJING: A spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Lu Kang said here on Monday at a regular news briefing that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a landmark project for China-Pakistan cooperation in the new era, and it is also an important project for the “Belt and Road” construction.

Commenting on the implementation of the CPEC, he said in the past five years since the construction of the corridor, there have been 22 early harvest projects, creating tens of thousands of jobs for the local community and meeting the electricity needs of 8.6 million households.

“ These have greatly improved the infrastructure of Pakistan and have greatly promoted the welfare of Pakistani people. Of course, it will be warmly welcomed by the Pakistani government and people.

As for the adoption of international financing methods to implement major projects, this is also a global practice, especially for developing countries to break through the funding bottleneck and help increase growth.

As far as the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is concerned, less than 20% of the current projects use Chinese loans, and more than 80% are Chinese direct investment and free aid.

Therefore, the construction of this project not only does not increase the burden on the Pakistani side, but also contributes to the economic strength of the stronger Pakistani side. We still hope that if the media concerned really cares about the welfare of the Pakistani people and cares about the development of Pakistan, it may be worthwhile to go to the field to find out how the local people evaluate the construction project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. On this basis, they can report China-Pakistan economic cooperation more realistically, the spokesperson added.

Replying to a question about the recent visit of Chinese State leaders to Europe, Lu Kang said, indeed, President Xi Jinping’s first visit this year is Italy, Monaco and France. Premier Li Keqiang’s current visit to Europe is to attend the China-EU summit and the China-Central and Eastern European countries’ leaders and an official visit to Croatia.

Europe, he added “ is an important force in the world and has always been the focus of Chinese diplomacy. China's strengthening of relations with Europe is in line with China's wishes and the wishes of the EU.

As you have seen the achievements of President Xi’s visit to Europe, if the important consensus reached between China and the EU on maintaining multilateralism and maintaining a rules-based world trading system can have a greater driving effect on the international community, I believe that it includes Japan. All countries are welcome.