ISLAMABAD: Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong has announced that a long-awaited meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be convened later this month, Pakistani media reported on Friday.
CPEC has seen Beijing pledge over $60 billion for infrastructure projects in Pakistan, central to China’s wider Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to develop land and sea trade routes in Asia and beyond.
The JCC is the highest decision-making body for CPEC projects, co-chaired by Pakistan’s minister for planning and development and the chairman of China’s National Development and Reforms Commission. The JCC makes decisions on the inclusion of new projects into the CPEC framework and also tracks project implementation.
In November last year, the JCC was delayed after both countries could not agree on the future roadmap for industrial cooperation.
Speaking at the concluding session of a conference titled “Pakistan-China At 70: Vision for the Future” held at the Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) on Thursday, Nong said CPEC had moved from just focusing on infrastructure and energy, to developments in the sector of agriculture, industry, IT, science and technology.
“Urbanization, digitization, and modernization are the pre-requisites for rapid development in the years to come,” he said at the conference, as quoted by the Express Tribune.
In a keynote address via video, Chinese senior diplomat Wang Yi urged Pakistan to promote strategic communication with China and closer coordination on all issues of common interest.
“No matter how the world or the region changes, China will always stand firmly with Pakistan,” the Chinese state councilor and foreign minister said.