Honorable H.E. Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan,

Distinguished Ministers, Ambassadors,

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Good evening!

I would like to welcome all the distinguished guests present at the reception of 69th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China. Thank you for gracing the reception and sharing with us the joy of festival. On behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, I would like to express my high tribute and sincere gratitude to Pakistani friends in all walks of life who have for long rendered their care and support to China-Pakistan relations.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Time is the most objective witness. For China, 69 years have been a journey from being weak and poor to gaining independence and becoming prosperous. It has seen historic leap forward for China. China's great achievements were created by the Chinese people with their own hands from generation to generation. These achievements are made possible by the strong leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and the choice of a development path suited to China’s own national conditions, and by the Chinese nation's spirit of ceaseless self-reliance and arduous struggle.

The year of 2018 kicked off our efforts to put all the guiding principles from the CPC’s 19th National Congress into action. It is the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up, and it is also a crucial year for securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and for continuing to implement the 13th Five-Year Plan. Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at the core, and with the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we are integrating our personal and family dreams into national dreams, striving to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and contributing more wisdom and strength to safeguarding world peace and development.

The development of China provides opportunities for the world and the region. As President Xi Jinping said, "a prosperous and stable world provides China with opportunities, and China's development also offers an opportunity for the world as a whole. Whether we will succeed in our pursuit of peaceful development to a large extent hinges on whether we can turn opportunities in the rest of the world into China's opportunities and China's opportunities into those for the rest of the world." For achieving this goal, we adhere to the principles of peaceful development, cooperation for win-win outcome. We are committed to the ideas of fostering a new type of international relations and building a global community with a shared future. This year, China has successfully hosted the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Qingdao and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit. In this November, China will host the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai. The four major events hosted by China show China's new prospects of deepened reform and expanded opening-up, reiterate the concepts of mutual trust and benefit, equal-footed consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations and pursuit of common development, jointly advancing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to realize its high-quality development. These prospects, concepts and actions of China’s diplomacy have been broadly welcomed and supported by countries around the world.

Ladies and gentlemen,

China and Pakistan are good neighbors, good friends, good partners and good brothers that treat each other with all sincerity and share weal and woe, and the friendship between the two countries has remained solid and kept growing despite the fluctuating international situation. As President Xi Jinping put it, China-Pakistan relations should be a model of good-neighborly friendship, a pillar of regional peace and stability, and a benchmark for international cooperation on the BRI. We appreciate that the new government of Pakistan regards the relations with China as the corner stone of Pakistan's foreign policy and firmly promotes the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Likewise, China will continue to prioritize Pakistan in its foreign policies and neighborhood diplomacy.

Early this month, H.E. Wang Yi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China visited Pakistan. During the visit , he fully aligned with the new government and comprehensively conducted in-depth discussions on cooperation in various fields, so as to ensure a good start for China-Pakistan relations under the new situation. As a major pilot project of BRI, 9 projects of CPEC have been completed and 13 projects are under construction. CPEC is contributing the annual economic growth of Pakistan by 1 to 2 percentage points, creating 70,000 direct job opportunities for Pakistan, and improving power supply and transport conditions of Pakistan. We would like to make joint efforts with Pakistan to promote CPEC to a new stage of enrichment and extension. The normal operation of the completed project and the smooth progress of the projects under construction will be ensured. At the same time, according to the next economic and social development priorities and the needs of the public of the Pakistani side, the future development path and cooperation direction of the CPEC will be determined through consultation between China and Pakistan. We wish to speed up industrial cooperation and livelihood projects, promote communication and cooperation in areas of poverty relief, anti-corruption, education, and science and technology, strengthen people to people exchange, expand cultural connections, make China-Pakistan cooperation benefit all the Pakistani people, and promote closer heart-to-heart communication between our people.

Ladies and gentleman,

I am convinced that, under the guidance of our leaders and with the joint efforts of both countries, the road of China-Pakistan friendship will be getting broader and brighter in the days to come. Let us join hands towards our common dreams and make unremitting efforts to achieve the goal of the Community of China-Pakistan Shared Future at an early date!