Message of Congratulations on the 74th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China

TEXT: By H.E. Jiang Zaidong, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Pakistan. On the occasion of the National Day of the People’s Republic of China on 1st October, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy, I would like to extend my best wishes to our great motherland, and may the great country enjoy prosperity forever! And I would also like to express my heartfelt thanks to friends from all walks of life in Pakistan who care about and support China’s development and actively promote China-Pakistan friendship!

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China 74 years ago, China has embarked on the great journey of modernization independently, turning from an impoverished and backward land into the world’s second largest economy, top trader in goods, biggest holder of foreign exchange reserves, and biggest manufacturer. We have put in place the world’s largest compulsory education system, social security system, and medical and health system. China has completed industrialization that Western developed countries took hundreds of years. We have caught up with the times in great strides, and hit a miracle in the history of world development.

Currently, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the entire CPC and people of all ethnic groups in China are earnestly implementing the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the CPC, and to embrace the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, characterized by the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all people, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development.

China has proved to the world with practice that there is no fixed model of modernization. Any country can achieve modernization, as long as the path suits its conditions and answers the need of its people for development.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by President Xi Jinping, and also of the launch of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Ten years on since the start of the BRI, over 3,000 cooperation projects have been launched, driving nearly US$1 trillion of investment and creating 420,000 jobs for participating countries.

Many nations have thus realized their dreams of railways, big bridges, and poverty alleviation. And as a key pilot project under the Belt and Road Initiative, CPEC has achieved fruitful outcomes in the past 10 years. It has brought 25.4 billion US dollars of direct investment to Pakistan, and generated 236,000 local jobs in total. It has laid a solid foundation for Pakistan’s economic and social development and has become a vivid example of the all-weather friendship between China and Pakistan.

Not long ago, the Hangzhou Asian Games began successfully. Athletes from China and Pakistan participated in this grand event and shared the joy of victory together. China and Pakistan are linked by mountains and rivers, and have enjoyed ever-lasting friendship.

Since China and Pakistan established diplomatic ties in 1951, no matter how the international and regional situations change, our two countries always understand, trust, respect and support each other.

China-Pakistan bilateral relations can be called an exemplar of state-to-state relations. The iron-clad friendship between the two countries is deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples. In April 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a historic state visit to Pakistan, during which the two sides elevated China-Pakistan bilateral relations to all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, opening up a new chapter in the development of bilateral ties.

No matter how the situation changes, China will firmly support Pakistan in safeguarding its national sovereignty, national independence and territorial integrity, support Pakistan in taking a development path that is in line with its national conditions, and support Pakistan in playing a greater role in international and regional affairs.

Looking ahead, we are ready to work with Pakistani side, by implementing the important consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and Pakistani leaders as the guiding principle, building an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era as the main line, and promoting high-quality development of the CPEC as the major platform, to continuously consolidate, deepen and expand China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperation, and better benefit the two countries and the two peoples.

I, together with all my colleagues at the Chinese Embassy, will exert our best efforts to work closely with Pakistani friends, and make new contributions to the development of China-Pakistan relations!

Long live the People’s Republic of China!

Chin-Pak Dosti Zindabad!

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023