New Chinese envoy in Pakistan already a celebrity

Gwadar Pro

Islamabad: New Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong is already a celebrity in the country just hours after presenting credentials to President Arif Alvi.

As the envoy met President Alvi on Tuesday, the Chinese embassy in Pakistan announced the Ambassador had taken to Twitter to remain in contact with the Pakistanis on the social media.

Thousands of people followed the envoy’s Twitter handle @AmbNong as Ambassador Nong Rong started his official engagements with the Pakistani authorities.

“It is my honor to serve as the Ambassador of P R (People’s Republic of) China to Pakistan. Assalam-o-Alaikum (a traditional Islamic greeting which means peace be upon you) Iron Brother (a nickname which both Pakistan and China use for each other keeping in view the deep friendship),” the envoy tweeted which received thousands of likes, a large number of retweets and scores of comments.

Tagging a picture, he tweeted again: “Presenting Letter of Credence to the Honorable President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi.” This tweet was also accepted well by the followers who are bound to increase in the days to come.

Earlier in the day, Ambassador Nong Rong presented credentials to the President. Later, he also held a meeting with the President.

While talking to the envoy, the President said that Pakistan wanted to further strengthen and enhance economic, trade and political relations with friendly countries.

The President briefed him about the steps taken by Pakistan to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. He said the pandemic was the greatest challenge and the global community needed to make collective efforts to contain the disease, read an official statement.

Iron Brother China had designated first non-career ambassador for Pakistan in more than 40 years a few weeks ago. Nong Rong has now assumed his assignment in Islamabad and has started holding important meetings with top officers including that of the Foreign Office.

He has also brought a special message of goodwill of President Xi Jinping for the government and people of his host country.

Ambassador Nong Rong has been dealing in foreign trade and economic affairs in 29-year of his service in China in various capacities.

He was never associated with the Chinese Foreign Office but has tremendous skill of negotiating and comprehending trade and economic matters.

Nong Rong was regional minister before his ambassadorial appointment. He was secretary of the prestigious CPC Group, ethnic and religion affairs commission of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and deputy head of the United Front Work department of CPC committee.

The new envoy is expected to provide much needed push to the historic China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – a flagship project of the gigantic Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

On Monday, Ambassador Nong Rong had called on Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood. In the meeting, the Foreign Secretary reaffirmed strong commitment to Pakistan-China ‘All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership’ and hoped CPEC projects would be fast-tracked.

Among other important issues, Ambassador Nong Rong’s focus would be on CPEC amid complaints of bureaucratic hitches affecting the pace of work on the multi-billion-dollar project.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has already taken notice of the complaints by the Chinese companies and their Pakistani partners and warned of strict action if any official is found involved in hindering the smooth implementation of the CPEC.