BEIJING: Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharif said Monday that China will play a central role in shaping the course of the 21st century under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, as people have termed this century as the ‘Asian century’.
The CM, in an article written for China National Radio website, said that Pakistan was eager to learn from China to achieve progress and prosperity.
Shehbaz said that the just concluded 19-CPC Congress was an epoch-making event that would be recorded in the annals of history. He said that Jinping’s new era of socialism had left a strong impression on the development history of modern China.
Xi Jinping realised that the widening gap between the rich and the poor in the society and the impact of environmental pollution on China’s sustainable development were harming the country, he added. Therefore, he emphasised the need to transform growth mode and promote balanced economic growth.
In the article, the Punjab chief minister also said that the “One Belt and One Road” initiative proposed by Xi Jinping was a big step towards promoting openness, tolerance, peace and mutual learning. To date, the initiative had received the support of some 100 countries and many international organisations, including the United Nations (UN), he added.
He further said that this was an epic future vision that would promote the establishment of a mutually beneficial and win-win partnership in Asia, Africa and Europe.
Moreover, Shehbaz said that against the background of the current global political and economic structural changes, China’s peaceful rise had relieved those who feared that the far-right political forces may pose a potential threat to globalisation.
In some parts of the world, “political nationalism” had become the new normal and posed challenges to globalization, he added. He also said that Xi Jinping lent a strong voice in support of the vision and expectations of developing countries.
The CM advocated multilateral solutions to global issues within the UN framework.
In January this year, Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and resolutely safeguarded globalization on the occasion.
He called for promoting South-South cooperation, North-South dialogue and arousing strong resonance among the international community.
