CPEC companies taking effective measures to control COVID-19: Chinese Scholar

Islamabad: China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) companies were taking effective measures to control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, a renowned Chinese Scholar said.

The corridor projects have formulated plans for epidemic prevention and control and implemented them in strict accordance with the plan.

In addition, the Chinese companies involved in the construction of corridor projects are actively contributing to the prevention and control of epidemics in their localities, donating medical supplies to local governments, schools, and hospitals, Cheng Xizhong, Special Commentator of China Economic Net and visiting professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law said in his article.

He informed that the headquarters of the Chinese companies are closely monitoring the spread of the Pakistani epidemic, attaching great importance to the epidemic prevention work of the corridor project site, and providing key guarantees for medical supplies. Some companies also send medical teams to the project site.

During this special period, the continuous progress of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project is of great significance.

He advocated that during this special period, the construction of the corridor cannot be stopped. First, these projects are mainly related to the future development of energy and transportation infrastructure, as well as special economic zones and industrial parks; second, most corridor projects are not in densely populated cities, but are distributed in remote areas with few people, even in urban areas. For some projects, for safety reasons, Chinese companies have implemented closed management from the beginning; third, Chinese companies participating in the construction of corridor projects have adopted a series of effective prevention and control measures.

He said the corridor runs through the north and south of Pakistan, where the epidemic is getting worse. Everyone is now concerned about whether the epidemic will affect the construction of the corridor. Some people say that it has an impact, some people say there is no impact, and others say that the impact is very large.

“In my opinion, we must seek truth from facts, and of course the epidemic will affect the corridor construction to a certain extent. But I think that this effect is within the controllable range. I also think that the impact on the corridor proposal will depend on the spread of the Pakistan epidemic and the effectiveness of Pakistan’s epidemic prevention measures,” he added.

Overcoming the difficulties caused by the epidemic and continuing to advance the construction of the corridor is the firm determination of the governments and peoples of China and Pakistan. Therefore, while fighting the epidemic together, the governments of China and Pakistan attach great importance to the continuous progress of the corridor project construction.

Now, the relevant government departments of China and Pakistan maintain close communication and coordination on the specific issues of the corridor project. The normal flights between the two countries were temporarily interrupted due to the epidemic, but Chinese technicians who returned home during the Spring Festival had returned to the site by charter.

The Chinese enterprises attach great importance to the epidemic prevention work on the project site, and implement closed management internally to effectively prevent the invasion of the new coronavirus. As far as I know, there is no epidemic spread on the corridor project site.

Now that all circles in Pakistan have reached consensus, the CPEC is the lifeline of Pakistan. Infrastructure such as energy and transportation has created conditions for Pakistan’s rapid development in the future.

The construction of special economic zones and industrial parks will attract large amounts of foreign investment into Pakistan. By continuing to advance the construction of the corridor will Pakistan have the future development.