ISLAMABAD — China and Pakistan on Aug 13 promised to deepen their pragmatic cooperation in various fields during a meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and visiting Vice-Premier Wang Yang.

Wang Yang is in Pakistan to attend activities marking the 70th anniversary of Pakistan’s independence at the invitation of the Pakistani government.

Noting that China and Pakistan are “iron friends” and all-weather partners of strategic cooperation who always understand and support each other, Wang said Chinese President Xi Jinping’s successful visit to Pakistan in 2015 has ushered in a new chapter of the relations between the two countries.

China would like to join hands with Pakistan to well implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and ensure that more fruitful results will be achieved in bilateral cooperation, he said.

With regard to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative, Wang expressed the hope that the two countries strengthen coordination and make good plan and design from a long-term and top-level perspective.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aiming at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of Silk Road.

While hailing fruitful cooperation in various economic fields over the past years, especially in the CPEC construction, Wang suggested that in the near future, the two countries put emphasis on ensuring early harvests in the CPEC project.

Based on the principle of jointly building through consultation to meet the interests of both sides, China and Pakistan should work together to further accelerate the construction of Gwadar Port, Wang said.

Furthermore, the two sides should push forward energy cooperation in the fields of thermal power, Hydropower, solar energy and clean energy, implement infrastructure cooperation projects such as highways, railways, urban rail facilities, deepen cooperation in industrial parks and strengthen personnel training, Vice-premier said.

China and Pakistan should further tap the potential in bilateral economic and trade cooperation, maintain the growing momentum in bilateral trade so as to promote trade balance, he said.

The two sides should also boost cooperation in the fields such as education, science and technology, culture, health, youth and media in a bid to consolidate the social basis of the China-Pakistan friendship, Wang said.

For his part, Abbasi said Pakistan and China are brothers and the bilateral relations have withstood the test of time.

Pakistan has witnessed the sustainable growth in its economy in recent years and China has played an important role in it, he said.

Pakistan totally agrees with China’s proposal to push forward the pragmatic cooperation between the two sides and is willing to work together with China to continue to press ahead with the CPEC project, expand bilateral trade, deepen and broaden pragmatic cooperation in all fields, Abbasi said.

After their meeting, Wang and Abbasi attended the completion and inauguration ceremony of important cooperation projects between the two countries and the signing ceremony of bilateral cooperation documents.