At the beginning of the year 2025, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to China (Feb 4-8, 2025) and meeting with his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, hold great significance for outlining the prospects of all-weather strategic cooperation between China and Pakistan and for steering the bilateral relations amidst the profound changes of the century.
Charge d’Affaires (CdA) of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Shi Yuanqiang, expressed these views while addressing a reception held in connection with the Lantern Festival and the Chinese New Year (the Year of Snake) held here at Serena Hotel on Sunday.
Staff members of the Chinese embassy, Chinese students, Chinese nationals, their children and families, and employees working in different Chinese enterprises here in Pakistan attended the reception. They enjoyed reunions with their family members and friends, etc. Several stalls displaying various gifts, Chinese items, and sweets were the centre of attraction for the children and the families, and they made a great shopping trip there!
Shi Yuanqiang greeted fellow Chinese nationals at the beginning of the Chinese New Year and observed that the Chinese New Year, the most ancient, richly connotative, and widely influential traditional festival of the Chinese nation, is also a significant moment for every Chinese people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, to reunite with family, and to share joy.
The year 2024 that has just passed saw high-level frequent exchanges between China and Pakistan with the successful mutual visits of the two countries’ Prime Ministers, he said, adding the bond of friendship between China and Pakistan has been further enhanced with the fact that the game-changer project China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is evolving from the “4+1” layout to a brand-new phase of “upgraded version.”
The vast number of Chinese compatriots in Pakistan have been proactive and accomplished, striving for excellence in all walks of life, actively supporting and participating in various construction activities, contributing their wisdom and strength to the inheritance and deepening of the remarkable friendship between China and Pakistan, and promoting mutually beneficial cooperation between the two nations, he said.
