FM Wang Yi urges faster progress towards China-Pakistan Economic Corridor 2.0

In whirlwind meetings with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other senior officials in Islamabad on Thursday, Wang also vowed to enhance security collaboration to counter the country’s long-standing terrorism threats, often targeting Chinese nationals.

“China has always been Pakistan’s most reliable partner and strongest backer,” he told Sharif, according to the Chinese foreign ministry readout.

“Both sides should accelerate the construction of the 2.0 upgrade version of [CPEC], focusing on the three major areas of agriculture, industry, and mining,” Wang said, adding that China would help Islamabad to “comprehensively improve self-development ability” and “enhance resilience for external challenges”.

Sharif said Islamabad also wanted cooperation in “aerospace, information technology, and infrastructure” and pledged that Pakistan would make a “full effort” to secure the safety of Chinese nationals and projects from terrorist attacks.

CPEC has seen more than US$65 billion in Chinese investment, including the China-managed Gwadar Port linking Xinjiang and the Arabian Sea. The second phase of the project, according to Pakistan, involves setting up special economic zones.

In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post earlier this year, Muhammad Aurangzeb Pakistan’s finance minister, said CPEC 2.0 would enable the country to become an export hub and generate enough foreign currency to pay its debt.

South China Morning Post