China welcomes third-party participation in CPEC

• FO spokesperson invites more countries to join corridor projects

BEIJING: China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang on Monday said that China will welcome third-party participation in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on the principle of equality and voluntarism.

At a regular news briefing, he termed CPEC an open initiative and invited more countries to join it. Commenting on the commissioning of a power plant built by China and Qatar in Karachi, Geng said that Qatar’s participation showed that the CPEC was open for third country’s participation.

The first unit of the 1320 megawatts coal-fired power plant at the Port Qasim in Karachi, under the CPEC project, was inaugurated on November 29. The Port Qasim plant has been developed jointly by the Power China Resources Limited and Qatar’s Al-Mirqab Capital with a total investment of $2.085 billion.

It is the second major energy project under the CPEC. “This is the first project participated by the third country. It shows that the CPEC is an open initiative. We are willing to explore the participation of more countries with the principle of equality and voluntarism,” the Chinese spokesperson said.

He said that the Chinese side was happy with the operation of this plant. “I think, this will play a positive role in providing energy and bring benefits to the people of Pakistan,” he added.