Activity No.20: Seminar held to commemorate 70th anniversary of friendly ties

The seminar with a theme of ‘New Opportunities and New Missions for China-Pakistan All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership’ to commemorate the 70th anniversary of establishment of bilateral relations was held today in Shanghai. The seminar was jointly organized by the Shanghai Institute of Strategic Studies (SIIS) and Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) in collaboration with Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) and Shanghai People’s Association  for Friendship with Foreign Countries. Mr. Aizaz Ahmed Choudary, Director General of ISSI and Mr. Liu Zongyi, Secretary General of China and South Asia Cooperation Research Center, SIIS, co-moderated the seminar. The seminar was well attended by scholars, experts, diplomacy practitioners and enterprise from both sides.

During the seminar, Mr. Sha Hailin, Chairman of Shanghai People’s Association  for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Mr. Aizaz Ahmed Choudhry, Director General of ISSI, Mr. Chen Dongxiao, President of SIIS, Mr. Chen Song, DDG, Asia Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China made keynote speeches and highlighted the important aspects of Pakistan-China bilateral relations.

In his keynote speech, Ambassador Moin highlighted the importance of Pak-China bilateral relations which have grown from strength to strength over the years and culminated into the ‘All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership’. The launch of 2nd phase of CPEC and implementation of 2nd phase of China-Pakistan FTA have provided further impetus to our overall bilateral trade and investment relations. Pakistan’s exports to China grew by 69% to US$888 million in first quarter of 2021 as against the same period last year, amid prevailing pandemic situation. China has become Pakistan’s largest trading partner and biggest source of FDI. Pakistan government’s focus on geo-economics will create further potential areas for economic cooperation between the two countries including modern sectors like ICT, New Energy Vehicles (NEVs), bio medicine and agriculture. Highlighting the changes in international and regional geo-strategic environment amid the pandemic, the Ambassador stated that the relations between the two countries was a factor of stability amid the volatile regional situation.

The two countries are celebrating 70th anniversary of establishment of bilateral ties this year which provided an opportunity to celebrate and reaffirm our this unique relationship and work even harder to make this relations stronger.

In themed discussion during the seminar, the experts deliberated on topics including Pak-China cooperation in culture, trade, international and regional relations, defence and security.  The speakers were unanimous that the two sides need to shore up cooperation to deal with common challenges and capitalize on common opportunities.

2021-05-19