LAHORE: Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar on Monday said relations between Pakistan and China would further strengthen as foundation of Pak-China friendship was laid on peace, mutual values, experiences and cultural ties.

China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had helped taking the Pak-China friendship to new heights, he said and added that new mutual opportunities would also be explored through the CPEC.

A huge portion of Punjab's population consisted of youth so that it was needed to create new opportunities in textile, agriculture and technology for them.

The governor expressed these views during a dinner hosted in honour of Vice President of China Wang Qishan here at the Governor's House.

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jung, Chinese Consular General Lung Dung, members of Chinese delegation, Punjab Information Minister Syed Samsam Ali Bukhari and others attended the event.

The governor said the visit of Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan was manifestation of great relations and historical traditions between the two countries.    The bilateral relations between China and Pakistan were two dimensional and China had always helped Pakistan at every critical juncture of history, he maintained.

"I congratulate China which is chief architect of belt road initiative, marking start of new era of globalization wherein 122 nations are being interconnected by road, rail, air and sea," he said and added that Pakistan was also proud to become part of CPEC-flagship project of belt road initiative.

Chaudhry Sarwar said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government as per the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan was cooperating with China to overcome environment change and other issues.