Pakistan, China issue joint statement on mutual affairs

November 2, 2022 (MLN): Pakistan and China on Wednesday issued a lengthy all-encompassing joint statement during the Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s visit to Beijing, a press release by Ministries of Foreign Affairs of both countries showed.

The statement said that during the premier’s visit to Beijing, he met with China’s President Xi Jinping where both discussed issues of bilateral interests.

PM Sharif also felicitated President Xi Jinping on his re-election as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), expressed admiration for his leadership, wisdom, vision, and people-centered philosophy of development, and commended his contributions to continued growth of Pakistan-China relations.

The two sides held in-depth exchange of views on the bilateral relations as well as regional situation and international political landscape.

The Pakistani side expressed its commitment to the one-China Policy and support on issues of Taiwan, South China Sea, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet. The Chinese side reaffirmed its support for Pakistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, security, and promoting its socio-economic development and prosperity.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif briefed the Chinese leadership on the post-flood relief and rehabilitation efforts. The Chinese side expressed its resolve to stand by Pakistan in these difficult times and to continue aiding Pakistan in the latter’s plans for rehabilitation of the affected areas.

Recognizing that ML-1 is a project of key significance under the CPEC framework and of importance to Pakistan’s socio-economic development, the two sides agreed to build upon the leadership consensus and to advance the process of its earliest implementation. They also agreed to actively advance the Karachi Circular Railway, which was an urgent requirement for Pakistan’s biggest city.

Recognizing the significance of the Gwadar port as the leading project of CPEC and an important node in cross regional connectivity, both sides expressed satisfaction on the completion of key projects and agreed to speed up progress on other related projects of the Gwadar port and free zone.

In line with the leadership’s consensus to accelerate cooperation in the areas of agriculture, mining, IT, socio-economic development under CPEC, the two sides agreed to further build on the health, industry, digital and green corridors launched earlier this year and carry out relevant cooperation.

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