Islamabad, May 15: The incumbent Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Pakistan H.E Luo Zhaohui has said that with the able and visionary leadership at Beijing and Islamabad, Sino-Pak friendship was touching the new horizons and creating a new history.

Expressing his views during a formal meeting with the President and Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Mail and Chairman of Pak-China Media Friendship Association Mr. Makhdoom Babar, Ambassador Zhaohui said thatBeijing and Islamabad were sharing similar perceptions on all the regional and international issues. He said Beijing and Islamabad were having a wonderful joint stand against terrorism, extremism and separatism. He said that the China gives immense regards to Islamabad's support to Beijing over the issue of Taiwan and observed that the strategic and economic partnership between China and Pakistan was playing a vital role for regional and global peace and development. Ambassador Zhaohui said that China was assisting Pakistan in a number of project and variety of Sino-Pak joint ventures was a clear indicator to gauge the depth of the friendship and partnership between the two exemplary friendly nations. He said that the projects like JF-17 THUNDER fighter jet and Gawadar deepwater Port etc were some recent examples of the constantly flourishing cooperation between China and Pakistan in the fields of Defence and Economy.

He said thatChina gives a great importance to its ties with Pakistan and takes immense pride with its friendship with Pakistan and the recent signing of Treaty of Friendship; the only of its kind was a crystal clear sign of the constant rise in the ties between the tow exemplary neighboring countries. He said the all weather, time tested and evergreen friendship between China and Pakistan was touching new heights as the able and visionary leadership at Beijing and Islamabad is showing more keenness than the past to achieve the goals for enhanced peace and development. "China feels very jubilant and proud to observe a rapid development and progress in Pakistan and we believe that President Musharraf's Policies of Enlightened Moderation and Good Governance and Premier Shaukat Aziz's Economic Doctrine have put Pakistan on a strong, smooth path of progress and development" asserted Ambassador Zhaohui.

He said that both theChina and Pakistan were now making all out efforts to enhance the trade volume between the two countries to the maximum and that too in the shortest possible time. He said that it was his ambition to do as much as he could to enhance the strategic, economic and defence cooperation between Beijing and Islamabad and bring the two nations even closer through friendship based diplomatic endeavors. "I am here to keep ties on the rise and that I would do with the best of my abilities" vowed the Ambassador. The Ambassador also underlined the importance of a concrete and comprehensive coordination for the implementation of signed agreements between the both sides so that earliest possible benefits can be gained for better results. He was of the view that all the agreements should be followed under the light and directions of Early Harvest Treaty, signed between Pakistan and China, last year. He said that the arrival of over one hundred prominent Chinese companies and business groups in Pakistan, with the number constantly increasing, was a solid proof that Chinese investors had great confidence in the growing economy of Pakistan and growth based economic policies of the government. He observed that there was need to promote bilateral tourism since there was enough room to deliver in this sector as it was yet to be explored to the best of its potential.

Appreciating the initiatives of The Daily Mail, taken to improve and promote Pak-China relations and friendship between the two nations, Ambassador Zhaohui That the press is considered to be the fourth pillar of a nation and can play a very important, strong and significant role in promoting friendship between two nations and The Daily Mail was doing it with all the inferiority, dedication and passion. ?we really appreciate the efforts that The Daily Mail has been making over the past few years to promote further the relations and friendship between Pakistan and China and we value these imitative a lot. It is really amazing to observe that for the first time in the history, a private media organization has launched a number of initiatives to enhance the relations between the two nations with all the professionalism, sincerity and devotion." expressed Ambassador Luo Zhaohui.

He said that signing of agreements of professional collaboration and personnel exchange by The Daily Mail with different Chinese media organizations was a very much welcome step and speaks very high of the vision and passion of the President and Publisher of the newspaper Mr. Makhdoom Babar. He said that The Daily Mail was publishing one full page on China everyday which was a solid proof that how much weight and importance does this newspaper give to China. He also praised Mr. Makhdoom's initiative of forming Pak-China Media friendship Association and said it would prove to be extraordinarily beneficial for the journalists from both sides in understanding each other's socio-cultural and geo-political affairs and for subsequent knowledge of their readers. He offered full support to the cause and hoped that this platform would emerge as a dynamic media tool for the promotion of ties between the two countries and for enhancing people to people contact betweenPakistan and China.

On this occasion, Mr. Makhdoom Babar assured his and his organization's full support to the Chinese government in general and Chinese embassy inIslamabad in particular for the cause of promotion of Pak-China bilateral ties and friendship. He briefed the Ambassador about the activities of Pak-China Media Friendship Association and initiatives of The Daily Mail for the enhancement of Sino-Pak relations and also informed the ambassador about the future plans of The Daily Mail and Pak-China Media Friendship Association, which were very much appreciated by Ambassador Luo Zhaohui.(The Daily Mail)