China ready to work with Pakistan to create a sound environment for CPEC: Chinese Embassy

Islamabad: The Chinese embassy in Pakistan has declared that China was ready to work side by side with Pakistan to create a sound environment for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
“China is ready to work with Pakistani side to create a sound environment for the CPEC and bilateral practical cooperation to achieve mutual benefit and common development” the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad said in a statement issued here.

It added: “Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong exchanged views on CPEC with Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar and both expressed their confidence and expectation for the bright prospect of the mega project.”

Ambassador Nong Tong us satisfied that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s meeting with President Xi Jinping’s Special Representative, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Dushanbe on Friday was a good success, the statement indicated.

The statement came after a parliamentary committee of the Senate was told this week that several Chinese companies were unhappy with the pace of work on the CPEC projects.
The Chinese embassy stated, “China appreciated the great importance Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Pakistani government attach to China-Pakistan practical cooperation and their positive efforts to this end.”

It further said: “Ambassador Nong Rong said with the completion of the early harvest projects, the CPEC had entered a new stage of enrichment and expansion
The Chinese envoy was quoted as saying in the statement that agriculture, industry and social livelihood projects, which were of great concern to the Pakistani government, would be the focus of CPEC Phase II.
“Positive progress had been made in relevant cooperation, and CPEC is right on its way towards a demonstration project of high-quality development under the Belt and Road Initiative,” the statement clarified.

As Prime Minister Imran said, the CPEC was a transformational project, Ambassador Rong remarked.
“Planning Minister Asad Umar agreed with Ambassador Nong’s remarks, saying that the PTI government had been committed to advancing the CPEC while significant progress had been made in Gwadar Port, energy and infrastructure sector, as well as the construction of SEZs,” the statement pointed out,
The envoy, reiterated the “remarks made by Prime Minister Imran Khan during his meeting with State Councilor Wang Yi, stressing that Pakistan would do its utmost to protect the safety of Chinese citizens in Pakistan and resolutely push forward the construction of the CPEC that benefited the Pakistani people and the country beyond,” read tgr statement.