The Chinese embassy held a reception in Islamabad Sunday to
celebrate the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic
relations between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People's
Republic of China.
Pakistani Senate Chairman Mohammad Mian Soomro and Foreign
Minister Khurshid Kasuri were among more than 600 guests present at
the reception hosted by Ambassador Zhang Chunxiang.
In his opening speech, Zhang touted the China-Pak relations as
an "all-weather friendship," which has withstood the test of
various changes and is featured by mutual understanding, trust and
support.
"Thanks to the efforts of governments in decades and leaders of
generations in our two countries, the Sino-Pak good-neighborly and
friendly relations have continued to grow stronger and achieved
fruitful results from our mutually-beneficial cooperation," he
said.
Over the past 55 years, he said, trade volume between the two
countries has been growing, reaching up to a new record high of
more than US$4.2 billion last year. The two countries have expanded
economic and trade cooperation in fields such as industry, energy,
hydroelectricity, nuclear power, telecommunications, and various
infrastructure projects.
In his speech, Kasuri said that the Pak-China relations were
time-tested and Pakistan and China had set a good example of
friendly co-existence for countries with different social
systems.
Earlier on Sunday, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) held
a reception at its headquarters to celebrate the 55th anniversary
of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and
China. PML Chairman Chaudhry Shujat Hussain said that it was "a
special occasion not just for the people of Pakistan and China but
also for the entire region since our friendship is a plus for
peace, cooperation and stability."
"Let me admit Pak-China friendship is unique and most
trustworthy as proved in the history," he said. "I will
particularly like to mention one point that in this friendship,
China has played a major role. The sacrifices of Chinese on the
Karakuram Highways are marked with respect."
(Xinhua News Agency May 22, 2006)
