ISLAMABAD: Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong said on Sunday that the passage going through the western part of Pakistan to Gwadar was definitely a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Speaking at an event held at the Pak-China Friendship Centre to welcome the participants of a car rally arriving from the Chinese region of Ningxia, he said the CPEC was for Pakistan as a whole with multiple passages and it would bring benefits to all Pakistani people.

“As we see it, all the routes lead to development and prosperity. Under the ‘Belt and Road Initiatives’, CPEC will make its contribution to reviving the ‘Silk Road spirit’,” he added.

He said Chinese President Xi Jinping had proposed the initiatives in 2013, reviving the great Silk Road spirit.

As the major and pilot project of the initiatives, the CPEC had entered full implementation with remarkable progress, the ambassador said.

“Sixteen early harvest projects are under consideration, with total investment of $13.6 billion and tens of thousands of new jobs have been created for local people.”

He explained that there were three key points of the spirit: openness, inclusiveness and mutual learning, and win-win cooperation. “We will always open our doors to the outside world.”

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2016