BEIJING: Since the official launch of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in May 2013, the corridor construction has progressed rapidly during these five years and it has been changing with each passing day.
People from all walks of life in Pakistan witnessed the positive changes brought about by the construction of CPEC to Pakistan’s domestic economy and society and also personally experienced the convenience and benefits brought by the corridor construction project.
In view of this, consolidating and deepening the current achievements and promoting the future of corridor construction into a new stage has also become the general consensus of all walks of life in Pakistan, according to an article published by China’s Guangming Daily on Wednesday.
The Pakistani and Chinese peoples have reason to believe that the Pakistan-China consensus in the new era will not be disturbed by all kinds of “clouds” from time to time. The two governments and people will march forward, cooperate sincerely and look forward to helping each other to further promote both the countries.
The construction of economic corridors has also moved to a higher level.
US Secretary of State Pompeo recently said in an interview with the US media that any potential financial bailout provided by the International Monetary Fund to Pakistan should not be used to repay Chinese loans.
In fact, this is not the first time that the outside world has sung Pakistan’s future economic development and has taken a sideline attack on China-Pakistan relations.
In recent times, Pakistan has held general elections. Some Western media have specifically made a fuss about the CPEC and some China-Pakistan cooperation projects. However, high-ranking US officials have issued official statements to the outside world on the Pakistani economic issue in such an explicit way through the media.
Earlier, several Western media reported that the current debt problems in Pakistan were related to Chinese investment.
However, from the perspective of scientific evidence and data analysis, it is difficult to argue.
According to data released by the Pakistani government, about 42 per cent of Pakistan’s external debt comes from multilateral financial institutions, and about 18 per cent of its debt comes from the Paris Club.
China’s concessional loans account for only about 10 per cent of the total external debt and are much lower than the interest rates of commercial bank loans.
In addition, according to a study by experts from the South Asia Research Center of Peking University, Pakistan’s debt to China accounted for 10.4 per cent of its total external debt, accounting for only a small part of the external debt structure.
It is believed that with the further implementation of China-Pakistan pragmatic cooperation, it will continue to help the development of the real economy such as the Pakistani manufacturing industry, improve the industrial chain, and effectively solve the problems of temporary foreign exchange income reduction and trade imbalance. In fact, the history of China-Pakistan friendship has always been a common struggle history of mutual benefit and pragmatic cooperation.
The Chinese and Pakistani builders and people from all walks of life who have in-depth practice in China-Pakistan economic cooperation have the most say.
People from all walks of life in China and Pakistan generally believe that the CPEC will follow the broad consensus reached by the two countries and move forward steadily to continue to benefit the two peoples.
Recently, Yao Jing, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan met with Imam Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan Justice Movement Party to welcome Pakistan to smoothly complete the general election, congratulating him for winning this election and looking forward to the new government with Pakistan.
Imran Khan said that developing friendship with China is the consensus of the Palestinian state; the Justice Movement Party supports the “One Belt, One Road” cooperation concept and firmly supports the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
It is believed that corridor cooperation will bring new important opportunities for the development of Pakistan; After the Justice Movement Party takes office, it will fully engage with China and push forward bilateral relations.
As mentioned above, as a general consensus between the governments of the two countries and people from all walks of life, China-Pakistan sincere cooperation and common development complement each other.
Sincere cooperation is the path and way to achieve development, and common development is the shared vision of both the countries.
At the level of sincere cooperation, Imran Khan has repeatedly stated that the JEM has attached great importance to relations with China and deeply appreciates China’s development achievements in more than 40 years.
The Justice Movement Party adheres to the philosophy of governing for the people and hopes that China will continue to support Pakistan’s economic and social development.
It is willing to actively learn from China’s experience in governing the country in anti-corruption, poverty alleviation, environmental protection, and urban construction, and benefit the broad masses of the people.
Justice Party leader Asad Umar also said at a recent media symposium that in view of the many areas in which Pakistan’s current economy needs to be improved, the new government will commit itself to economic reforms and address the long-term existence of the Pakistani economy.
The structural problems will be comprehensively used to improve the current economic situation of Pakistan, and the construction of the CPEC will play a key role in this regard.
Pakistani domestic experts also said that China is currently Pakistan’s largest investor and largest trading partner, bringing rich and positive possibilities for Pakistan’s economic development and improvement of people’s livelihood.
With the deepening of the construction of the CPEC, it will attract more and more capital from inside and outside the country to invest in Pakistan. Pakistan is also expected to realize its location potential and advantages and become the core of interconnection in South Asia.
In response, China will continue to work with the Pakistani side to promote greater development in the future of the corridor.
At the level of achieving common development, China and Pakistan face many common historic opportunities and major issues.
Achieving security and stability in South Asia, strengthening regional interconnection and building a more active and constructive role in the international arena is the goal of China-Pakistan to achieve common development in the future, and it is also the direction for the two countries to work together in the future.
Since the high-profile announcement and implementation of a new strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia last year, the United States has continued to intervene in the affairs of South Asia by using its own political, economic, military strength and advantageous position, and has continually and unilaterally raised unreasonable demands on the Pakistani government and people. And apply heavy pressure. However, Pakistan has extensive experience in safeguarding peace and stability in its own country and region. It has made painstaking efforts and made great sacrifices. It deserves the full understanding, respect and support of the international community.
In June, Pakistan, as a formal member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, participated in the Leaders Summit for the first time, which indicates that Pakistan will enhance its influence and recognition on the international stage through extensive and pragmatic cooperation with other members of the SCO. And Pakistan will one day truly achieve stability, prosperity and prosperity, and it is also a long-awaited expectation of China as an all-weather strategic partner.
Throughout the fundamentals of China-Pakistan pragmatic cooperation, the deep friendship between the two countries is a historical basis.
The all-weather strategic partnership is a political guarantee.
The people’s hearts and minds of the two countries are the emotional bonds, and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor serves as the “Belt and Road”. The flagship project of the initiative is a hard-won real opportunity.
The achievements made in the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in the past five years are sufficient to prove its own value and positive role.
In the future, it will continue to build infrastructure, promote employment, improve people’s livelihood, strengthen cultural exchanges, enhance the internal development of the Pakistani economy and internationally. We will play a role as a booster in terms of competitiveness and promote the development of a higher level and higher quality in the economic and social development of the Pakistani economy.
Infrastructure construction is a basic element of a country’s economic growth. The rapid economic growth, the cultivation of industrial environment and the improvement of people’s well-being are rooted in a solid infrastructure network, and the shortage of infrastructure is precisely the bottleneck of Pakistan’s economic development.
In the future, the infrastructure construction that will continue to be promoted under the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will greatly meet the requirements of the economy.
The new highway network can shorten the time between urban and rural areas and regions, greatly alleviate traffic congestion in large cities and reduce logistics.
The future construction of Gwadar Port will highlight magnetic and cluster effects on domestic and foreign capital, promote Pakistan as a regional trans-shipment hub and regional economic centre and improve local poverty.
The current situation of insufficient resources for people’s livelihood; the completion of wind power, hydropower, coal power and solar energy projects in energy cooperation has continuously supplied electricity to Pakistan, providing a bright and clean new life for the general public while effectively alleviating energy shortcomings.
Continued improvement of power transmission and distribution links, improvement of energy use rate and stability have also pointed out the direction for pragmatic cooperation between the two countries.
In fact, infrastructure construction is a long-term project that is conducive to the present and will benefit the future. With the continued revitalization and development of the Pakistani economy, the dividend of infrastructure will also be released to all levels of the Palestinian society.
The employment problem is a shortcoming that restricts Pakistan’s economic development and even social stability. It is also an important problem that the new government has to solve after it took office.
According to data from the Pakistan Planning Commission, the early harvest project of the CPEC created 38,000 jobs, including more than 75% are local employment, and the corridor project is expected to continue to create 500,000 jobs in Pakistan in the next five to seven years.
The corridor boosts employment not only in terms of quantity, but also in quality. Through systematic vocational training, Pakistan is expected to have a large-scale industrial workers team in the future.
In addition, the construction of corridors has yielded fruitful results in the fields of education, health, medical care, etc., especially in the construction of underdeveloped areas, helping local people solve the most basic drinking, medical and educational difficulties.
The two countries will continue to deepen cooperation in this field, and enterprises and institutions will also assume more social responsibilities and give ordinary people the opportunity to continuously improve their living standards.
The developed industrial system is the symbol of the maturity of the modern economy and the vision of the rich and strong that the Pakistani people have been pursuing for generations. Industrial cooperation will become the most promising field in the long-term planning of the corridor.
With the formulation of various industrial parks under the corridor project and the introduction of relevant policies, more and more enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises from China and Pakistan, have come to the market through sole proprietorship and joint ventures.
Industrial parks have significant clustering and radiation effects. Local companies in Pakistan are expected to fundamentally enhance their strength in the manufacturing sector, seek a place in the global value chain upstream, and gain more competitive competitiveness in the international market.
