Chinese Think-tank Delegation arrives tomorrow

Lahore: On the invitation of Chairman, Pakistan-China Institute, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, a Chinese delegation led by Madame Zhao Baige, Chairperson of the Joint China-Pakistan Think Tank, Research & Development International (RDI), former Minister and currently Vice Chair of China’s Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress, will arrive here on Monday (June 1).

The purpose of the delegation’s visit is to introduce to Pakistani policy-makers and parliamentarians, the Research & Development International (RDI), a think tank jointly launched by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) and China Institute for Reform and Development (CIRD) in China on April 15, 2015, dedicated to promoting policy research on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). During the visit, the two sides are likely to announce an ‘Information Corridor’, a special web portal and data pool of information on the CPEC. The delegation will call on the Prime Minister, Chairman Senate,  the Ministers of Finance and Planning,  as well as Chief Ministers of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Punjab, plus meet parliamentarians.

“The Information Corridor will serve to support and supplement the Economic Corridor as a one-window hub where information and data regarding the CPEC, its progress along the designated route, its documentation, its maps, photo bank, stories about various projects, employment opportunities, role and involvement of local communities along the Economic Corridor, and other news related to various activities could be easily accessed by presenting it in a professional manner,” said Senator Mushahid Hussain. He also emphasised the need to promote consensus through consultation and to ensure transparency so that the ‘Economic Corridor becomes a major factor for uniting the Federation through shared progress and prosperity, with planned development of the less developed areas of Pakistan’.

He said that the new Joint China-Pakistan Think Tank will also cater to providing information to meet the needs of Pakistani and Chinese and other enterprises operating in Pakistan on projects under the Economic Corridor; including projects to address environment and climate change, joint research in cotton, agriculture, IT, infrastructure, Gwadar Port, industrial parks, marine and fisheries research and media-to-media cooperation between China and Pakistan. He said ‘it is important to build the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in an environmentally-friendly manner’.

The Pakistan-China Institute, which is also hosting the Pakistan Secretariat of the RDI, will plan a number of initiatives with RDI so that that this think tank platform promotes the CPEC in an effective way. The PCI, together with RDI, are planning a conference in Xinjiang province of China in August, since the Economic Corridor will link up with China through its Xinjiang province.

In the context of the recently-held All Parties Conference on the CPEC on May 28, where a complete consensus was achieved on the Corridor and its agreed route, this Chinese delegation’s  visit comes at an opportune time to take the Economic Corridor forward with the support of Parliament and all the political forces of Pakistan. And during the landmark visit of President Xi Jinping to Pakistan in April, the Chinese President conferred on Senator Mushahid Hussain the ‘Friendship Award’ for his role in promoting Pakistan-China relations.