Islamabad, The 4th meeting of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Joint Working Group on International Cooperation and Coordination (JWG-ICC) convened today in Islamabad, marking a significant step in the ongoing collaboration between Pakistan and China under the CPEC initiative.

According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting was co-chaired by Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi and China’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong, highlighting the mutual commitment to fostering international cooperation, particularly in the context of CPEC. The session reviewed the progress made since the third meeting of the Joint Working Group, which was held virtually on July 21, 2022.

Both sides expressed satisfaction with CPEC’s role in enhancing international and regional connectivity and acknowledged the project’s open and inclusive nature. The Foreign Secretary reiterated the importance of CPEC in promoting sustainable development and win-win cooperation, inviting third parties to join in mutually beneficial cooperative ventures.

The meeting also recognized the evolution of CPEC and agreed to emphasize high-quality advancements in key sectors such as industry, agriculture, information technology, and science and technology. Both sides firmly rejected disinformation campaigns and distorted reporting about CPEC, emphasizing the need to counter misleading narratives.

Furthermore, the deliberations of the Second and Third Pakistan-China Think Tanks Forums held in September 2022 and July 2023 were recalled, with both countries affirming their support for cooperation between media and think tanks. They agreed to share best practices and foster an intellectual knowledge pool for CPEC and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) through enhanced international communication and cooperation.