China committed to develop Pakistan: Finance Minister

Islamabad: Minister for Finance Senator Ishaq Dar has said evening that China was committed to develop Pakistan.

In a statement, Dar mentioned that China was keen to complete development projects in Pakistan including the Main Line 1 (ML-1) Railway track from Karachi to Peshawar, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, and the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR).

“The Chinese government and companies have given a positive response to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who officially visited the neighboring country for reviving business ties on a fast track,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmed said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a number of meetings including with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, and Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress among others during his recent two-day trip.

He mentioned that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif briefed the Chinese leadership on post-flood relief and rehabilitation efforts. The Chinese side expressed its resolve to stand by Pakistan in these difficult times and to continue offering assistance to Pakistan for rehabilitation of the affected areas.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to high quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and highlighted the salience of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for Pakistan’s economic and social development. Various projects under CPEC including ML-1, Karachi Circular Railway, projects of the Gawadar port and free zone, cooperation in the areas of agriculture, mining, IT and socio-economic development were also discussed,” he elaborated.

He added: “There was complete consensus to accelerate high quality development of CPEC as flagship project of BRI. It was also agreed to fast-track implementation of ML-I and Karachi Circular Railway projects.”

He remarked that China supported Pakistan’s initiative for developing solar energy potential and would encourage its companies to invest in solar energy projects in Pakistan.

He said to support Pakistan’s agricultural production especially due to damage to “our crops after floods, China would also provide 300,000 Million Ton (MT) urea to Pakistan on Government-to-Government (G2G) basis.”