China, Pakistan hold development cooperation meeting via video link

A meeting on development cooperation between China and Pakistan was held via video link on March 1, 2023. Deng Boqing, vice-chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), and Kazim Niaz, secretary for Ministry of Economic Affairs (MEA) of Pakistan, co-chaired the meeting.

Noting that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners, Deng said that the CIDCA and the MEA have maintained close communication and cooperation under the guidance of key consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries, made joint efforts in their COVID-19 responses, and achieved fruitful results in improving people's livelihoods and in development cooperation.

When mass floods hit Pakistan last year, China provided emergency disaster relief supplies, and sent expert teams on medical care and disaster assessment to support Pakistan's "Resilient, Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Framework", Deng said. China is ready to work with Pakistan to jointly implement the Global Development Initiative and achieve greater progress, he added.

Kazim said that China and Pakistan enjoy an extraordinary friendship, and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor construction has achieved remarkable progress. Pakistan sincerely appreciates China's long-term assistance, especially the timely aid and support to Pakistan's disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction against the severe floods last year, which demonstrates the iron-clad friendship between the two countries, he noted.

The two sides held in-depth discussions on cooperation projects in such areas as post-disaster reconstruction, medical care, education and agriculture, and pledged to implement all projects with joint efforts.