ISLAMABAD — The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be a “magnet” to attract more investment, business opportunities and exchanges to Pakistan in the near future, said Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Sun Weidong on Sept 27.

The ambassador made the remarks during a reception commemorating the 67th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

He added that the CPEC have made significant progress as 16 out of a total of 30 early harvest projects have been completed or are under construction with an estimated investment of $14 billion.

Sun said that the CPEC is an open and inclusive cooperation concept aiming at promoting people’s livelihood, adding that under the initiative, tens of thousands of jobs for local people have been created.

The envoy also appreciated the Pakistani side over its emergency assistance of 10,000 tons of rice to China for severe flood in some Chinese southern provinces recently and efforts by the Pakistani military and law enforcement agencies to create a safe environment for Chinese nationals and institutions in the country.

For his part, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, hailed that Pak-China relations that are based on mutual respect, trust, peaceful co-existence and brotherly neighborhood form the “bedrock” of Pakistan’s foreign policy.

He said the country’s leadership and parliament attach great importance to the promotion of the CPEC as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has rightly called the project “a new concept in diplomacy,” which will be the “game-changer” for prosperity of the entire region.

Sadiq also thanked China for helping the Pakistani parliament become the world’s first to go completely green by converting to solar energy.

This year also marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Pakistan. The bilateral relations based on mutual understanding, trust and support have become a model of relations between countries.