Key Points
- Envoy says visit added “new chapter” to iron-clad friendship
- Beijing to expand cooperation in industry, agriculture, mining, emerging sectors
- Financial, cultural and governance exchanges highlighted
- Xinjiang leg termed symbol of mutual brotherhood
ISLAMABAD: Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong has said Beijing is ready to work with Islamabad to fully implement the outcomes of President Asif Ali Zardari’s recent visit to China, describing the trip as a “new chapter” in the all-weather partnership.
Both countries are at a “critical stage of development and rejuvenation” and pledged to align supply and demand, enhance complementarity, and give “full play to the comprehensive effects” of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he wrote in a Pakistani newspaper article published on Tuesday.
Jiang underlined that the September 12-21 visit, which covered Sichuan, Shanghai, and Xinjiang, underscored the depth of bilateral ties. He said cooperation would expand across industry, agriculture, mining, and emerging fields, while local and cultural exchanges would inject “new momentum” into the ties.
The ambassador recalled that President Zardari witnessed agreements with Shanghai Electric Group and praised China’s technological innovation, including high-speed rail. He noted that Chinese investment, such as in the Thar Engro Coal Power Project and Shanghai Stock Exchange’s stake in the Pakistan Stock Exchange, had strengthened Pakistan’s energy security and financial linkages.
Highlighting the Xinjiang leg of the visit, Jiang said Zardari prayed at Kashgar’s Id Kah Mosque, visited Pakistani students at Kashi University, and encouraged greater people-to-people contact. The envoy wrote that the trip coincided with Xinjiang’s 70th anniversary and symbolised fraternity between the two nations.
“China is willing to work with Pakistan to implement the outcomes of President Zardari’s visit, advance the Action Plan to foster an even closer China–Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era (2025–2029), and contribute to building a community with a shared future for mankind,” Jiang wrote in the column.
