Strength of time-tested friendship with Pakistan: China Daily editorial

China has always had a special niche in its neighborhood diplomacy for its relations with Pakistan. Over the years, the two neighbors have forged a resilient time-tested friendship by standing together through thick and thin and mutually supporting each other.

Pakistan has stood firmly beside China in the face of the West's provocations on the Taiwan question as well as the issues concerning the South China Sea, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet. While China, on its part, has always backed Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity and security, and promoted its socioeconomic development and prosperity. Most recently, it has provided emergency assistance to Pakistan after the severe floods in the country and will continue to provide support for Pakistan's plans for rehabilitation of the affected areas.

As President Xi Jinping said in his meeting with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Beijing on Wednesday, the two countries are "good friends, good partners and good brothers".

Xi reaffirmed China's commitment to advance the building of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and said China will seek to further deepen the synergy between its development strategies and those of Pakistan, and support Pakistan in its efforts to stabilize its financial situation.

The two leaders have agreed to press ahead with a slew of massive infrastructure projects under the CPEC, including speeding up the construction of the Pakistani deep-sea port of Gwadar. The two leaders also made it clear that the CPEC, as an open and inclusive platform, welcomes interested third parties to benefit from investment opportunities in priority areas such as industry, agriculture, IT, science and technology, and oil and gas.

The CPEC is a flagship bilateral project as well as an important part of the two countries' cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, and its high quality, efficiency and security cannot be overstressed. Since Chinese personnel in Pakistan have been repeatedly targeted and been the victims of terrorist attacks in recent years, it is crucial that the two sides strengthen their security and protection cooperation to ensure the safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan. This would help pave a more stable road for bilateral cooperation in all areas.

By consolidating practical bilateral cooperation and strengthening collaboration on multilateral platforms, China and Pakistan will be better able to withstand the current headwinds.

Saying that it was a great honor for him to be among the first foreign leaders to visit China after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Prime Minister Sharif said his visit was a testament to the profound, iron-clad friendship between the two countries. He said that no country has ever helped Pakistan or other developing countries with such wholehearted sincerity as China.

The visit shows that China and Pakistan, widely perceived as "iron brothers", will continue to step up their efforts to strengthen and deepen their all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.