Pakistan expects further closeness with China under Xi

Pakistani leadership felicitates Chinese president on re-election.

 

ISLAMABAD   -   Pakistan expects fur­ther closeness with Chi­na under re-elected Xi Jinping who has been a strong support of Paki­stan during his last ten years in power.

Yesterday, the Com­munist Party of Chi­na formally re-elected Xi Jinping, the party’s General Secretary for another five years, pav­ing the way for his his­toric third term as Chi­nese president. The widely expected an­nouncement came after a week-long Commu­nist Party Congress.

Shanghai Communist Party chief Li Qiang, 63, followed Xi onto the stage at the Great Hall of the People as the new Politbu­ro Stand­ing Committee was in­troduced, putting him in line to succeed Li Keqiang as premier when he retires in March. The other mem­bers of the seven-man Standing Committee are Zhao Leji and Wang Huning, who return from the previous com­mittee, and newcomers Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi. Li Qiang is also new to the Stand­ing Com­mittee. President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Shar­if were quick to felic­itate President Xi Jin­ping on his re-election.

The president, on his twitter handle, extend­ed his heartiest con­gratulations to Presi­dent Xi Jinping on his re-election as CPC Gen­eral Secretary, and the best wishes for his health and happiness. “He is a true friend of Pakistan and cham­pion for all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between Pakistan and China,” the president said.

On his twitter han­dle, the prime minis­ter posted, “On behalf of the entire Pakistani nation, I congratulate 

 President Xi Jinping on his re-election as CPC General Sec­retary for the 3rd term.” The prime minister said that it was a glowing tribute to President Xi’s sagacious stewardship and unwavering devotion for serv­ing the people of China. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is plan­ning to visit China soon and dis­cuss the bilateral and regional issues. In recent years, Pakistan and China have paid special at­tention to their economic coop­eration. Pakistan was amongst the first countries to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

As a pilot project of the BRI, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) boasts of tangi­ble outcomes in about six years of its life.

First, it has helped Pakistan overcome its persistent ener­gy shortfall. Pakistan was incur­ring a loss of about $4 billion on account of this shortfall prior to the CPEC.

Some major energy projects have been completed in record time and more are in the pipe­line, keeping with Pakistan’s strategy to diversify its energy mix. Chinese companies have used super critical technology in coal-based power plants to prevent environmental pollu­tion. Also, some key infrastruc­ture and transportation proj­ects, including the upgrading of Karakoram Highway have been undertaken.

The work on the Gwadar Port and allied infrastructure is on­going. Work is also picking up on three priority Special Eco­nomic Zones.

China has so far invested about $26 billion in these proj­ects, generating about 75,000 local jobs. For several years now, China has been Pakistan’s largest investor and the biggest trading partner. Chinese invest­ment in the CPEC is expected to grow with the addition of new projects.

The CPEC’s scope has been expanded in its next phase to include cooperation in agri­culture, industry, oil and gas, science and technology, infor­mation technology, education, tourism and socio-economic projects.

The CPEC is an economic part­nership project with no hidden agenda. It is meant to help Pa­kistan in overcoming its serious development deficit and to facil­itate its emergence as a regional trade and energy hub.

This conforms to Pakistan’s pivot to geo-economics para­digm in its foreign policy. China is opening its western regions and their proximity to Pakistan offers new avenues for econom­ic collaboration.

Pakistan wishes to leverage its unique advantage of being a bridgehead between China, South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East, through enhanced trade and investment that will benefit all the regions.

The Central Asian Republics (CARs), which are landlocked, are keen to take advantage of the CPEC to reach the Pakistani ports of Gwadar and Karachi.

Pakistani diplomats said Pres­ident Xi Jinping had been a close friend of Pakistan and during his leadership; the two coun­tries had come even closer.

“His third term will definite­ly bring us further closer. We hope to complete the CPEC projects in time. Xi Jinping is a great friend of Pakistan,” said one diplomat.

Another diplomat said PM Shehbaz Sharif will discuss more cooperation with China in the years to come. “The PM will assure the Chinese leadership to expedite work on the CPEC projects,” he added.