- Envoy says 25,000 Pakistani students studying in Chinese educational institutions
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Masood Khalid has said that nine universities in China have started teaching the Urdu language while 25,000 Pakistani students are studying in different Chinese educational institutions.
While talking to the state-run television, he said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had given a new dimension to the bilateral relations between the two countries. Under the CPEC, he said that China was investing billions of dollars in different sectors, including energy, infrastructure, transportation, Gwadar Port, industrial parks and economic zones.
He said that the CPEC would also help promote cultural ties between the two countries. Ambassador Masood said that the Punjab government had started a programme under which 500 students were sent to China for two years to learn the Chinese language. The first batch of the students under the programme had completed their course while the second one was studying.
He urged other provinces for taking similar steps. He said that efforts were being made to promote Pakistani films and dramas in China and enhance interaction between the media of the two countries. He said that CPEC, which was a cluster of projects, had started yielding benefits as Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) ratio had increased.
With rising economic activities, job opportunities for the youth were also being created. Some 70,000 Pakistani citizens were working in different projects launched under CPEC, he said. To a question, he said that the Gwadar Port would become fully operational within three to four years.
He said that Pakistan and China were working for establishing peace in the region. He said that both the nations had been enjoying deep-rooted and multidimensional relations since 1960 as all the past governments had worked to strengthen the same while Prime Minister Imran Khan in his first address also mentioned the deep ties between Pakistan and China.