Li's visit opens new chapter in China-Pakistan relations (2)

（Xinhua）  10:22, May 24, 2013  

NEW PATTERN OF PRAGMATIC COOPERATION

During Li's trip in Pakistan, the two sides reached the consensus to create a new pattern of their strategic cooperation.

China and Pakistan issued a joint statement on deepening comprehensive strategic cooperation, which highlighted eight areas with some new fields like interconnectivity, maritime cooperation, and aviation and aerospace.

To tap the potential of trade, logistics and flow of personnel between the two sides, China and Pakistan have agreed to enhance interconnectivity and jointly develop a long-term plan for China-Pakistan economic corridor.

Khalid Mahmood, president of the Islamabad Council of World Affairs, said the economic corridor can bring both countries development and prosperity.

"It can help China get connected with the Gulf region, Africa, Europe and the other parts of the world in an easier way and in a shorter time. Meanwhile, for Pakistan, there will be more business and trade activities in the region. Pakistan will also become the center of energy transmission from the Gulf," Mahmood told Xinhua on Wednesday.

"If we successfully complete the infrastructure, the economic corridor would be a flourishing route for not only trade and commerce but also energy supplies and transportation," he added.

On aviation and aerospace, the two sides signed an agreement on cooperation on the Beidou Satellite Navigation System (BDS) in Pakistan, making Pakistan the first country in the world to sign an official cooperation agreement on the BDS.

"Both China and Pakistan have extensive demands for the application of the BDS, and both sides are willing to cooperate with each other, so the cooperation prospect is broad," Ran Chengqi, director of China's Satellite Navigation System Management Office, told Xinhua on Thursday.

The two sides also agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in the fields of maritime security, search, rescue and disaster relief at sea, maritime scientific research and environmental protection, according to the statement.