Vice-Premier Wang Yang (R), who will attend activities marking the 70th anniversary of Pakistan’s independence, meets Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, on Aug 13, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua]
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.