Trust, cooperation drive China-Pakistan ties, envoy says

As Pakistan and China mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations on Thursday, their all-weather friendship is being carried forward by strategic mutual trust, expanding practical cooperation and a shared commitment to multilateralism, Pakistan's Ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi has said.

Hashmi said in a recent interview with China Daily that the resilience of the relationship rests on three foundations: mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual support.

"We have a very high-quality, strategic mutual trust between our two countries," Hashmi said. "That lies at the heart of our relationship" and "provides the direction".

Such trust, he said, has helped Pakistan-China relations progress steadily despite changes in the international environment. High-level exchanges and strategic guidance from the two countries' leaders are essential, he added, describing them as a source of direction and momentum. "It works like oxygen. It works like blood in the body," he said.

That political trust, Hashmi said, has been translated into development cooperation, most visibly through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the flagship project of Belt and Road cooperation between the two countries.

Launched more than a decade ago, CPEC has helped Pakistan strengthen its transport and energy infrastructure, laying what Hashmi described as "critical foundations" for faster and broader economic growth. As the corridor moves into its next phase, cooperation is shifting toward agriculture, minerals, information technology and industrial development — areas he said will help unlock new growth drivers for Pakistan.

The corridor is also part of a broader effort to give economic ties a stronger business-to-business dimension. Pakistan has identified 21 priority sectors for cooperation with China and is encouraging Chinese companies to invest in the country and work with local partners to enhance Pakistan's productive capacity, he said.

More than 300 memorandums of understanding and over three dozen joint venture agreements have been signed between enterprises from the two countries, with a combined value exceeding $13 billion, according to the top envoy.

Pakistan, he added, hopes to work with Chinese partners to add value to its products, make them more competitive and draw on China's strengths in technical and vocational education.

For Hashmi, the next stage of cooperation is closely linked to China's own transition toward high-quality development.

He said China's shift from high-speed growth to high-quality development is creating fresh opportunities for Pakistan and other Global South countries, as science and technology, advanced manufacturing and new quality productive forces become major growth drivers under China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30).

"What China is doing is a great favor to developing countries," he said, citing China's development of affordable, scalable digital and green technologies that can be learned, absorbed and deployed by developing countries at lower cost.

Beyond economic opportunities, Hashmi said China's broader vision for global development also resonates with Pakistan. He spoke highly of China's vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity, calling it "a profound philosophy" rooted in the idea that people share "a destiny" and "an aspiration for a better future".

Together with the Belt and Road Initiative and the four major global initiatives, the vision reflects "ancient Chinese wisdom expressed and interpreted in modern times" and offers "a blueprint and a road map" for tackling "some of the most intricate problems of the modern world", he said.

That shared outlook, Hashmi said, is also reflected in the two countries' coordination on international affairs. Pakistan and China work closely at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and other multilateral platforms to uphold multilateralism, international law, open and fair trade, and the central role of the UN in global governance, he said.

The ambassador said his views on China have also been shaped by years of firsthand experience in the country. Having previously served at the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing from 2008 to 2010 before returning as ambassador in 2023, he said he has witnessed striking changes in China's environmental, economic and social development, from cleaner air in Beijing and advances in green technologies to the expansion of high-speed rail and rising living standards.

To Pakistanis, he said, China is "our most trusted, most reliable and most friendly country".

Hashmi was recently among the first recipients of the Outstanding Diplomat Medal presented by China's Foreign Ministry. He said the honor belonged not only to him, but also to his embassy team and all those working to strengthen Pakistan-China relations.

"One person's contribution is never sufficient. It is always a team," he said, adding that the medal gives him more inspiration to continue advancing the relationship.