Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Sherry Rehman has said that high level contacts and multi-sectoral cooperation between Pakistan and China are a manifestation of the fact that both sides accord high importance to bilateral relations and desire to further deepen ties for mutual benefit.She expressed these views while talking to Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing Ambassador who called on her at the Parliament House on Saturday.

Senator Sherry Rehman said that Pakistan and China have a history of friendship which was built by former Prime Minsiter Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Mao Tes-Tung and both the countries have stood by the side with each other and seen the vicissitudes of time.

She said that this historic friendship has remained beneficial for both in economic and strategic fields while initiatives like CPEC and BRI have added further impetus to bilateral relations between the two sides.

She said the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, former president Asif Ali Zardari and Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari always placed Pak-China relations in highest regards and consensus exists across party lines on relations with China.

Sherry Rehman said that it is clear that Asia is rising and that its people need to be the master of their own destiny by controlling their own resources and harnessing the tremendous economic potential of a connected continent. China’s BRI will connect one ocean to another with its projection of economic power and infrastructure across Euroasia, she said.

She said "We hope that CPEC will generate more jobs at very fast pace, more opportunities for Pakistani youth, and expediting social and economic development."

She appreciated the fact that Chinese envoy was further proactive in consolidating the Pakistan and China friendship.

The Ambassador informed the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate about the projects initiated under CPEC and said that fourteen projects under CPEC have able to generate seventy thousand employment opportunities for the youth of Pakistan and more projects are in the pipeline which would provide additional opportunities to the youth of the country in terms of jobs.

He said that locals are a priority in all the CPEC projects, said a press release. Leader of Opposition in the Senate, Sherry Rehman termed it a big step in the right direction. “ Our youth is highly capable and has the potential contribute towards the socio-economic growth of the country”, she added.

She also expressed her good wishes to the government and people of China and underscored the need for further parliamentary interaction to promote people- to-people contacts.

She said that the Pakistan-China Friendship group in the Senate would be revived to institutionalize the bilateral relationship.