China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng to visit Pak; attend 10th anniversary of CPEC

The CPEC is a collection of infrastructure and other projects under construction throughout Pakistan since 2013

Islamabad: Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will arrive here on Sunday on a three-day visit to participate in the 10th anniversary celebrations of the ambitious multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the foreign office said on Saturday.

The Vice Premier, who is a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, will visit Islamabad from July 30 to August 1 at the invitation of Pakistan, the statement from the FO said.

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“Vice Premier He will attend the 10th-anniversary celebrations of CPEC and call on the President and the Prime Minister,” FO said, adding that He will also be the chief guest at an event celebrating the decade of the CPEC.

The CPEC is a collection of infrastructure and other projects under construction throughout Pakistan since 2013.

The CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Pakistan’s Balochistan with China’s Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of China’s ambitious multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

India has protested to China over the CPEC as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The BRI was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. It aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes.

The BRI is seen as an attempt by China to further its influence abroad with infrastructure projects funded by Chinese investments all over the world.

The initiative also led to allegations of smaller countries reeling under mounting Chinese debt after Sri Lanka gave its Hambantota port in a debt swap to China in 2017 on a 99-year lease.

Vice Premier He has played a prominent role in China’s international economic relations and implementation of the BRI.

As the Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (2017-23), he also was instrumental in the planning and execution of multiple CPEC projects in Pakistan.

The Pakistan FO said that the visit reflects the importance attached by Pakistan and China to further deepen their “All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership”. It also reaffirms support on issues of each other’s core interests; enhances economic and financial cooperation; advances high-quality development of CPEC; and explores new avenues for strengthening trade and investment ties between the two countries.