- Zhao Lijan says 200 projects under CPEC will be completed till 2030
- ‘China wants improvement in Pak-India ties to resolve issues’
ISLAMABAD: Acting Ambassador of China Zhao Lijan on Friday said that under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), western route of the project would be completed earlier than the eastern route.
Speaking at the National Press Club here about the CPEC project, he dispelled rumours about the western route and said that this (western) route would be completed earlier than the eastern route. He said that work on various project under the CPEC was going with full speed and 22 projects would be completed during the current year while 18 projects would be completed next year.
He said that around 70,000 Pakistanis had got employment in these projects. Under the CPEC, the Chinese envoy said that the government had plan to complete a total of 200 projects till 2030 which would provide jobs to hundreds of thousands of people. He expressed the hope that the next government in Pakistan would also continue the pace of progress on the CPEC projects.
About the Gwadar Port, he said that the Gwadar International Airport would be completed in October this year. He said that the fisheries was an important sector of Gwadar and establishing a re-processing plant at the port Pakistan could further increase its exports.
He invited the overseas Pakistanis to come to their country and invest in the Gwadar Port, adding that more than 30 Pakistani companies had been registered at the port. He said that the investors were being provided facilities of electricity, gas, water and wifai. In energy projects under the CPEC, he said that $13 billion were being invested.
He said that several energy projects had been completed which had overcome load-shedding problem in Pakistan to a great extent. Under the CPEC, he said that the industrial parts would be established in Pakistan. To a question, he said that Pakistanis were hard workers and capable people and if they could make an atomic bomb then stabilizing their economy was not a big task for them.
He said that in the 1970s decade Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) was equal to China, adding that today’s success story of China was a result of hard work and dedication of the Chinese people. He said that China desired improvement in the Pak-India relations and both Pakistan and India could resolve their issues with peaceful dialogue.
