Speech by Guest of Honour Mr. Shi Yuanqiang, Deputy Head of Mission Embassy of China in Islamabad, on inaugural of ‘China Corner’ at ISSI
December 26, 2024
H.E. Amb. Syed Tariq Fatami, Special Assistant of Prime Minister,
H.E. Amb. Khalil Hashmi, Pakistani Ambassador to China,
H.E. Amb. Khalid Mahmood, Chairman BOG of ISSI,
H.E. Amb. Sohail Mahmood, Director General of ISSI,
Mr. Talat Shabbir, Director of China-Pakistan Center of ISSI,
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, friends!
It’s my great pleasure to attend the inauguration of “China Corner” at ISSI. As Ambassador Jiang Zaidong has another engagement so I am specially entrusted to attend this inauguration. First of all, I would like to thank Ambassador Mahmood for your thoughtful arrangements, and thank all the friends present for caring about China’s development and actively promoting China-Pakistan cooperation.
The friendship between countries lies in the friendship between peoples, and the friendship between peoples lies in the mutual understanding. As Pakistan’s leading think tank, ISSI has made outstanding contributions to promoting mutual understanding and exchanges between China and Pakistan. The China Pakistan Study Center actively organizes various China-related activities, providing an important platform for Pakistani people to understand China. We are sincerely grateful for your hard work and dedication. Chinese Embassy has cooperated with ISSI to set up the “China Corner” and donated a batch of books and CDs introducing China. We hope the Chinese Corner will be a new window for Pakistani people to learn about China and a new bridge of people-to-people exchanges. I would also like to take this opportunity to talk about a few ideas about understanding China and understanding China-Pakistan relations.
First, how to understand China. Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese people have worked together to create two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, benefiting the world and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. We maintain our position as the world’s second largest economy, and our average contribution to world economic growth has exceeded 30% for 10 consecutive years; we have won the battle against poverty, lifted nearly 100 million rural poor people out of poverty, and contributed more than 70% to the world’s poverty reduction; we have promoted the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”, and have launched more than 3,000 cooperation projects and attracted nearly one trillion US dollars in investment. At present, we are implementing the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, further deepening reform in an all-round way, and promoting Chinese modernization. In this process, we are ready to provide new opportunities for the world with the new development of Chinese modernization, and first benefit our iron brother Pakistan.
Second is about China-Pakistan relations. China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners and iron-clad friends. The friendship between the two countries has withstood the test of time and is as solid as rock and as stable as Mount Tai. It is mainly reflected in the following aspects. First, the political foundation of the relationship is extremely solid. Since the beginning of this year, President Xi Jinping has maintained close communication with President Zardari and Prime Minister Shahbaz and reached important consensus. In October this year, during his visit to Pakistan, Premier Li Qiang had an in-depth exchange of views with Pakistani leaders on deepening all-round practical cooperation and building an “upgraded version” of the CPEC. We are ready to work with Pakistan to implement the consensus well and accelerate the building of a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era. Second, the economic foundation of the relationship between the two countries is very solid. The CPEC has played an irreplaceable role in promoting Pakistan’s economic and social development and regional integration, and has become an important “game changer”. Just recently, the Khunjerab Pass has been opened all year round, the units of the SK Hydropower Station have been connected to the grid for power generation, the new Gwadar International Airport has been successfully completed, and 20,000 sets of “health kits” for students in Balochistan have been distributed. China and Pakistan have complementary economic structure and huge development potential. The construction of the “upgraded version” of the CPEC has broad prospects and will bring more benefits and opportunities to the two countries and their peoples. Third, the people to people foundation of our bilateral relations is particularly profound. All of you here are friendly envoys carrying forward the friendship between China and Pakistan. It is you who make the tree of China-Pakistan friendship grow stronger and taller. We are ready to work with Pakistan to open more “China Corners” in Pakistan, further enhance people-to-people cooperation and strengthen people-to-people exchanges with Pakistan, carry forward the special friendship and consolidate the foundation of bilateral cooperation.
I wish peace and prosperity to China and Pakistan, and everlasting friendship between China and Pakistan!
I wish all the guests good health and all the best!
Thank you all!
