China to start work on economic corridor shortly, says Li

BOAO: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has said China was ready to start the work on long-term plan of building a bilateral economic corridor by the end of this year.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference, Li said the two countries had agreed to build the corridor with bilateral practical cooperation.

He called for forging a “China-Pakistan community of Shared Destiny”, the Xinhua news agency reported. The corridor connecting Kashgar in China to the southwestern Pakistani port of Gwadar was proposed in an agreement between the two countries reached during Li’s visit to Pakistan in May 2013.

China would work with Pakistan to provide financial support for the construction of the corridor, he said. China would also like to enhance cooperation with terrorism, Li said, and hoped Pakistan would provide security for Chinese organisations and workers.

Prime Minister Nawaz said Pakistan would focus on promoting the corridor’s construction and would spare no effort to safeguard Chinese people and organisations. The prime minister said Pakistan was ready to further strategic cooperation to China and noted the relationship with China was the “cornerstone” of Pakistan’s diplomacy and the two countries were long-tested friends.Pakistan would make concerted efforts with China to fully implement cooperative deals between the two sides, he said.