CPEC Media Forum to counter propaganda with facts, CPEC open to 3rd countries
ISLAMABAD – Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong Monday said that China and Pakistan would take bilateral cooperation under China, Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to next level.
“We appreciate the efforts of Pakistan’s government to build ‘Naya Pakistan’, and will deepen exchanges with Pakistan on governance, share experience in poverty alleviation and reduction, help Pakistan develop industrial manufacturing, attract more foreign investment, promote the alignment of development strategies between the two countries, and work together to build a Closer China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future in the new era,” the Ambassador said while addressing the participants of the 6th China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Media Forum held here.
The forum was jointly organized by the Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) and China Economic Net (CEN) in cooperation with the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Pakistan. The forum is conducted as an annual event in Beijing and Islamabad in alternate years. Due to COVID-19, this year’s forum was held virtually and was themed “Post-epidemic China-Pakistan Media Cooperation”.
The forum conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on topics including the opportunities for digital media, media as an engine for the high-quality development of CPEC, and China-Pakistan media cooperation. Zheng Qingdong, President and Editor-in-Chief of Economic Daily, and Mustafa Hyder Sayed, Executive Director, Pakistan-China Institute gave the welcome addresses.
“With a population of 1.4 billion and a middle-income group of more than 400 million, China’s domestic retail market is expected to exceed 6 trillion US dollars this year, and its cumulative import volume is expected to exceed 22 trillion US dollars in the next 10 years. After the entry into force of the second phase of CPFTA this year, the proportion of zero-tariff products between the two countries has increased to 75%. This is conducive to Pakistan’s expansion of exports to China, promoting economic recovery and resolving the issue of trade imbalance in the course of development,”
Ambassador Nong Rong said that in the next 5 years, China will uphold the concept of openness, cooperation, solidarity and win-win spirit to help Pakistan achieve its development.
He said the high-quality development of China’s economy will certainly provide important opportunities for the development of the countries along BRI, including Pakistan, and other countries all over the world and during the next 5 years, China will steadfastly expand all-around opening up and explore more opportunities for Pakistan to expand its exports to China.
Zheng Qingdong highlighted the importance of the CPEC media forum and said that since its launch, it has contributed a lot towards building a positive public opinion on CPEC.
He said that in the face of the complex international environment, the media of China and Pakistan should take joint actions and form synergies in firmly opposing the negative propaganda against CPEC. Moreover, he said that the year 2021 will be the 70th anniversary of Pak-China diplomatic relations which will be celebrated with zeal and zest in both countries.
Chairman Senate of Pakistan Mr Sadiq Sanjrani in his keynote speech said that CPEC has achieved significant milestones through joint efforts of the governments, enterprises, and peoples of both countries.
“The first phase of CPEC, which focused on energy and infrastructure projects met its successful completion and now, the second phase is set to boost Pak-China cooperation in agriculture and initiate an era of industrialization through the establishment of Special Economic Zones,” he added.
Sanjrani commended the role of the media and said that it has played a very important role in the dissemination of facts on CPEC which has resulted in CPEC becoming a household name in Pakistan.
Through events like the CPEC media forum, he said, both countries get an excellent opportunity to consolidate the existing all-weather friendship. He also highlighted Pakistan’s Medical and moral support to China during its fight against the pandemic.
Moreover, he said that the Senate passed a resolution that acknowledged China’s robust measures to deal with coronavirus and commended their efforts to make Pakistanis living there, mainly students in Wuhan, feel at home during this critical time.
“As China-Pakistan cooperation proceeds to a greater depth, the Senate of Pakistan shall play a greater role in extending all possible cooperation to the media of both countries to develop greater understanding and cooperation on the issues of common interests. The 10th JCC on CPEC will be held soon,” he said.
Pakistan’s ambassador to China, Moinul Haq said that in this digital age, the media is playing a pivotal role in bolstering the friendship and solidarity between the peoples of Pakistan and China. He said that the media has rightly guided the public about the true significance of the CPEC project, which has resulted in creating a national consensus on CPEC.
Moreover, he said that Pakistan is the biggest proponent of BRI and endorses President Xi’s philosophy of shared future and prosperity. He concluded by saying that Pakistan and China need to strengthen media cooperation by screening more films in China just like ‘Parwaaz hai Junoon”, which was the first Pakistani film screened in China in the last 45 years. He said that JWG on International Cooperation was held in Urumqi on December 26 which agreed to broaden CPEC by inviting third country participation.
Mr. Tian Yuhong, Executive Secretary of the All-China Journalists Association said that CPEC is a symbol of attachment between Pakistan and China and even a global pandemic like COVID-19 could not stop the progress of projects under its umbrella. He said that news exchange and cooperation is an important factor to promote the healthy development of bilateral relations and smooth implementation of CPEC projects.
Under the BRI framework, All-China Journalists Association has established close cooperative relations with several journalist organizations, including the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, All Pakistan Journalists Association, and All Pakistan Newspapers Society. Moreover, he said that in the face of COVID-19, the common enemy of mankind, the media of China and Pakistan help each other with a common mission.
Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Chairman, Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and PCI commended the resilience of CPEC which progressed with full speed and vigour during COVID-19. He said that not a single Pakistani working on CPEC sites was laid off.
While commenting on the recently held meeting on Joint Working Group on international coordination, he said that there will be an increased focus on media and think-tank collaboration to take CPEC forward. The meeting also welcomed third party participation in CPEC. Moreover, he highlighted three objectives of conducting CPEC media forum.
Mr. NI Siyi, Deputy Director, Office of Editor-in chief, Xinhua News Agency said that since the launch of CPEC, there has been close cooperation between the media houses of both countries, When Prime Minister Imran Khan visited China in October 2019, INP and Xinhua news signed an agreement to take this cooperation to next level.
He called for airing more stories on CPEC which evoke people’s engagement. Moreover, he said that the media of both countries need to highlight the importance of the 70th anniversary of Pak-China diplomatic relations in 2021.
Jahanzeb Khan, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission gave a very comprehensive presentation on CPEC Phase-II. He said that CPEC is a multilayered project. In the first phase which ended in 2020, the focus was on improving infrastructure and solving the issue of energy. In the second phase which will end in 2025, processing and manufacturing industries will be developed and efforts will be made to ensure improvement in people’s livelihoods and balancing regional economic development. In the third phase (2025-2030) also called the period of maturity, the indigenous mechanism for sustainable economic growth will be in place and CPEC will be ready to play a leadership role in the region.
Ms. Zhao Qiao, Director, Department of Urdu, Asian & African Center, China Media Group said that the media of both countries fought misinformation regarding Pakistani students in Wuhan during COVID-19 by interviewing them and communicating the true perspective. She called for enhanced media ties between two brotherly countries and said that steps should be taken at the governmental level to increase people-to-people exchanges between Pakistan and China.
Senator Azam Khan Swati, Federal Minister for Railways highlighted the importance of the ML-1 project and said that it would transform the socioeconomic fate of Pakistan and the whole region by giving a boost to connectivity. This project, he said will create employment opportunities for the locals and improve the logistics infrastructure in the country. Moreover, he thanked China for standing with Pakistan through thick and thin and said that in the coming days, this cooperation would be diversified and made more comprehensive. He said ML-1 would cover 80% of Pakistani territory and 78% of the population of Pakistan.
Mr. Mudassir Tipu Director-General (China), Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan termed CPEC as a transformational and consensus-oriented project. He said that COVID-19 cooperation between Pakistan and China has been exemplary. He also appreciated the Chinese Communist Party for extending full support to Pakistan during the pandemic. Moreover, he also called for closer cooperation between the media of both countries.
After the speeches, an award ceremony was held in which seven journalists were conferred with “CPEC Communication Award”. Those seven journalists were; Muhammad Asghar, correspondent of Associated Press of Pakistan in Beijing; Naveed Hussain, Editor (Print & Digital) Express Tribune; Shafqat Ali, Special correspondent of The Nation; Liu Chang, Journalist of China Media Group Pakistan Bureau; Tariq Sumair, Editor of INP; Amir Ghauri, Editor of The News; Sultan Hali, Columnist, writer, and author of book on China.
At the end of the conference, there was a comprehensive question/answer session from the participants, which lasted for over 15 minutes. The CPEC Media Forum had huge online participation of over 300,000 persons in Pakistan and China, including students and scholars, journalists, and academics, policy-makers, think-tanks, and business and opinion leaders.
