By Li Xiaoxu Updated: 2016-08-10
A panoramic view of Karamay. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] |
The Silk Road Economic Belt and Xinjiang Karamay forum, known as the “Davos Forum in West China” is taking place in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region's city of Karamay from Aug 9 to 11.
Around 400 leading government figures from China, Iran, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan as well as enterprises and think-tanks will gather to discuss international cooperation across multiple categories ranging from infrastructure construction to the cultural industry.
The forum is seen as an important part of Xinjiang’s “Silk Road” economic zone development and an upgrade of the 2015 China-Pakistan Economic Corridor held in Karamay previously, according to organizers.
The forum aims to build another communication bridge between Asia and Europe.
Lights illuminate Karamay at night. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] |
Fruitful achievements for Sino-Pakistan cooperation
Karamay hosted the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Forum (CPEC) in August, 2015. CPEC resulted in signing around 20 cooperation agreements worth 10.35 billion yuan ($1.56 billion), concerning cooperation on energy, electric power, education, medical treatment, and culture.
The “Karamay Declaration” was also approved during CPEC, according to which the two countries pledged to boost bilateral cooperation following the principles of peaceful collaboration and mutual benefits.
During the past year, China has provided educational and medical training for Pakistani doctors and teachers in Karamay.
Karamay also donated medical and teaching equipment to Gwadar in Pakistan, with the hopes of improving the health care and living conditions of people living there.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was officially created in April, 2015, with China and Pakistan signing 51 investment agreements valued at $46 billion in the next 10 to 15 years. The two sides will focus on construction of the Gwadar harbor, which is expected to handle 300 to 400 million tons of cargo per year.