China’s Vice President Wang Qishan on Tuesday concluded his three-day ‘highly successful’ visit to Pakistan, setting a tone for future trajectory of mutual engagement between the two countries.
“The vice president’s highly successful visit has imparted a strong impetus to further deepening the time-tested friendship between Pakistan and China,” the Foreign Office said in a statement, as the visiting dignitary wrapped up his visit to Islamabad and Lahore.
The visit of Vice President Wang Qishan encompassed meetings with the Pakistani leadership, launching of four mega projects, inking of five accords and reviewing progress on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). “The visit has added to the vitality of the Pakistan-China bilateral partnership, which remains unaffected by adverse regional and international developments, and continues to grow from strength to strength,” the statement said. “The visit acquired an increased momentum since Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to China in November 2018 and his participation in the second belt and road forum in Beijing in April 2019,” it added.
The two sides held in-depth discussions on second phase of CPEC, including industrial and agricultural cooperation and socio-economic development, and on deepening practical cooperation in tourism and people-to-people exchanges. Both countries underscored their firm commitment towards early completion of ongoing CPEC projects and further expanding of corridor. The two countries also agreed to enhance bilateral trade volume in a balanced way. In this respect, they resolved to implement the recently concluded second phase of China-Pakistan free trade agreement at the earliest.
They agreed that the early development of prioritised special economic zones (SEZs) will play an important role in further enhancing economic relations between the two countries. “China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has added a practical dimension to the relationship and further fortified it,” the statement added.
In Lahore, the Chinese vice president met Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and held a meeting with Governor Ch Sarwar who also hosted a banquet in his honour. In recognition of his services for strengthening bilateral relations with Pakistan, President Dr Arif Alvi conferred on Vice President Wang Qishan the country’s highest civil award Nishan-e-Pakistan.
