By Muhammad Luqman
China has suggested to convene 10th Joint Cooperation Meeting in April this year under the CPEC framework ahead of its schedule to finalise different mega projects, including Railways Mainline (ML-1) of $9.2 billion before the visit of President Xi Jinping to Islamabad.
China’s National Development Reform Commission (NDRC) has sent an official communication for asking the Pakistani side to convene the meeting in April, instead of its scheduled time to be held in June/July in the wake of upcoming visit of President Xi Jinping, English newspaper The News reported.
The president of China is scheduled to visit Pakistan soon after upcoming Ramadan and Eidul Fitr.
The 9th JCC meeting held in November 2019 in Islamabad and it was expected that the next 10th JCC will be held in China probably in coming June/July this year. It was unexpected for Pakistani side when they received official communication from Chinese side about holding of proposed JCC ahead of its scheduled time. Now the government will kick-start preparation for finalising feasibilities and reports of different projects for inclusion in second phase of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Pakistan and China have so far executed $29 billion projects under CPEC for energy and infrastructure projects and most of the projects were either completed or nearing completion.
The projects completed so far in Phase-1 have already brought relief and started yielding dividends and tangible socio-economic benefits. CPEC projects will accelerate the pace of development in the country boosting economic growth and ensuring ultimate prosperity for the people of Pakistan.
