President Zardari, PM Shehbaz extend heartfelt felicitation to China on 75th anniversary

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended heartfelt felicitations to the Chinese people and their leadership on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of People’s Republic of China.

Addressing the reception in Islamabad today on the occasion of 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, President Zardari reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to working together with China for shared prosperity and promoting peace and stability in the world.

The president also highlighted the importance of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and said that high-quality development of CPEC would help unlock greater benefits for our people, besides enhancing connectivity and prosperity of the region.

President Zardari said that the first of October marked the rebirth of a strong, united China, achieved through the heroic struggles of the Chinese people under the visionary leadership of the Communist Party.

He reflected on the invaluable contributions made by successive generations in transforming the Pakistan-China friendship into an All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership.

“This partnership has served as a model of inter-state relations and thus become a source of inspiration and strength for both countries,” the president said.

He added China is an iron-clad brother of Pakistan and the entire nation is proud of the enduring friendship as both countries stood by each other during testing times.

In his address, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said it’s a great day and a great event that we are jointly celebrating 75th anniversary of our great friend China’s independence. He said we all are very happy to celebrate this momentous event.

The Prime Minister recalled his visit to China in June this year, saying that he was deeply impressed by the warmth and very friendly welcome by our Chinese friends.

He said the people of Pakistan and China are tied into unbreakable and unshakable relationships. He said this friendship is higher than Himalaya and deeper than the deepest ocean.

Expressing gratitude to Chinese leadership for supporting Pakistan in difficult times, the Prime Minister said without Chinese support, it would not have been possible at all to meet IMF conditions. The Prime Minister reiterated Pakistan’s complete support to the Chinese stand on Hong Kong, Taiwan and other international issues.

He said Pakistan is absolutely clear that we will support the Chinese stand without second thought for all times to come.

The prime minister said we are entering into the second phase of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which will be very helpful in transforming Pakistan’s economy. He said this phase has a huge potential of mutual cooperation in the field of agriculture, information technology, mines and minerals and many other important areas of our mutual interest.

PM Shehbaz Sharif said we also look forward to deepening our collaboration in areas of mutual interest. He said we also look forward to the visit of the Chinese Premier to visit Pakistan next month.