Pakistani PM admires Xi Jinping’s leadership

by Zafar Hussain BEIJING, Jun 29 – Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has admired the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his concrete steps to pull 700 million people out of extreme poverty and to build a community with a shared future for mankind. “We admire President Xi Jinping as one of the great statesmen of the modern world. We have admiration for him in Pakistan for two particular reasons. One is the commitment to fighting against corruption, Secondly, and the most remarkable thing about China, which we all admire, is that they have brought more than 700 million people out of poverty”, PM said. Today Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has interacted with Chinese media based in China and Pakistan and said that Pakistan is committed to strengthening its relationship with China politically and economically. He added that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the flagship project of the “Belt and Road” Initiative and Pakistan now has a high-level committee to follow the CPEC projects. “I’m going to Gwadar next week to oversee the projects and to make sure that we meet our timelines”, Khan added. PM told the media, “I look forward to my trip to China”, which is expected in the next two months to further strengthen bilateral political and economic ties. He further said that the next phase of CPEC will focus on special economic zones, adding, “we hope to attract Chinese industry into these special economic zones by giving them incentives. In Pakistan, labor is much cheaper than in China. Pakistan is an agricultural country and we can benefit from the latest techniques in agriculture from China”. PM Imran Khan mentioned that China’s solutions to COVID-19 were unique, and Pakistan is thankful to China for its help during the pandemic including the timely donation of vaccines. Regarding a question about how to deepen these already strong ties, Khan said, “Pakistan has a very special relationship with China. Whenever Pakistan was in trouble, China always stood with us. So, the Chinese people have a special place in the hearts of the Pakistani people. On the international forums, Pakistan and China always stand together”.About the upcoming 2020 Winter Olympics in Beijing, PM said that China is now an emerging power in sports.Answering a question from China Economic Net asking the PM’s comments on the fruitful results of the first phase of CPEC, future cooperation to ensure the success of the second phase of CPEC, and the economic growth in both countries, he said: “The first phase of CPEC focuses on connectivity and energy projects. At that time, Pakistan had problems with electricity shortage and connectivity. Now, the second phase will deepen our cooperation in the form of special economic zones. The idea is to attract investment into these special economic zones, which will provide employment, improve our growth rate, and create wealth for our country.” He further said that it is equally important for Pakistan to get help from China in the agriculture sector because the productivity of Pakistan’s agriculture is extremely low. “The productivity in China, compared with us, is much higher, and various agricultural technologies are used in China. Therefore the second phase is for special economic zones, agriculture, and skills education”, PM mentioned. Regarding the questions about how to speed up the CPEC projects, Prime Minister said that Pakistan has already formed a CPEC committee to monitor the CPEC projects and make sure that there are no impediments in their way. It is to be noted that Prime Minister has sent a special congratulatory letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC).