China continues work with Pakistan to bring CPEC benefits to local people: Spokesperson

Beijing: A Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson on Thursday said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was an important pilot program under Belt and Road Initiative and China would continue to work with Pakistan to ensure that the cooperation outcomes were better delivered to the Pakistani people.

“I would like to stress that CPEC is an important pilot program under Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It focusses on development and people’s livelihood and has got wide command and recognition from outside,” Wang Wenbin said during his regular briefing.

The spokesperson said that the CPEC had brought tangible benefits for socio-economic development of people’s lives.

“China will continue to work with Pakistan to ensure that the cooperation outcomes are better delivered to the Pakistani people,” he added.

Sharing the outcomes of BRI, he highlighted that since its inception nine years ago, China worked with relevant countries on the principles of mutual consultation, win-win cooperation and achieved fruitful outcomes.

Wang Wenbin gave examples of China-Laos railway, Bridge in Serbia, port of Gwadar which had been well implemented, and said, China-Europe Railways was operating smoothly.

In the first half of this year, he informed that China’s trade with countries along the route reached US$9.3 billion.

He reiterated that China would work with relevant countries to advance trade cooperation and achieve new achievements and make contributions towards the development of local peoples.

To a question, he pointed out that China and relevant countries had advanced mutually beneficial cooperation, and achieved tangible achievements under BRI.

Giving details, he said that by July 4 this year, China had signed BRI documents with 149 countries and 32 international organizations.

“We have investment volume of over 1 trillion yuan and cooperation relations with 87 countries in Science and Technology. In agriculture and health sectors, we have 53 laboratories and the cooperation in emerging sectors is also booming”, he added.

The spokesperson said that China-Europe freight trade service now reached around 180 cities in Europe. It was not only a network of transportation but a bond of win-win results.

He said that these facts showed that the BRI has delivered benefits for the whole world. It enjoyed bright prospects forward.

“We are ready to work with all countries to pursue high quality cooperation to bring more benefits to international community,” he added.