21 May marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. Over the past 75 years of standing together through thick and thin, China-Pakistan relations have withstood the tests of the evolving international landscape, remaining as solid as a rock and as stable as Mount Tai of China. We have forged an ironclad friendship “higher than Himalayas, deeper than ocean, sweeter than honey”, setting a model for state-to-state relations. Standing at a new historical starting point, the two countries are committed to building an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, advancing their all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.
Forging a Solid Foundation of Friendship and Public Support with Head-of-State Diplomacy. The traditional China-Pakistan friendship was personally nurtured by the older generation of leaders and represents a precious asset for both countries and peoples. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two sides have maintained frequent high-level exchanges, cemented unbreakable strategic mutual trust, and deepened integration of interests. Since President Xi Jinping’s historic state visit to Pakistan in 2015, the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership has achieved remarkable leaps forward. In 2025, President Xi Jinping held talks and meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif respectively, reaching important consensus. The two governments issued the Action Plan on Building an Even Closer China-Pakistan Community with a Shared Future in the New Era, propelling China-Pakistan relations into a new phase. Not long ago, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan visited China’s Hunan and Hainan provinces. Such frequent high-level interactions provide political guidance and inject strong impetus into the development of China-Pakistan relations.
The traditional China-Pakistan friendship was personally nurtured by the older generation of leaders and represents a precious asset for both countries and peoples.
Bolstering Pragmatic Cooperation to Build a Benchmark for Inclusive and People-Centered Benefits.As a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has yielded fruitful results in energy, infrastructure and other fields. It has attracted over USD 25.9 billion in direct investment and created more than 260,000 jobs, providing crucial support for Pakistan’s economic and social development and serving as a model project for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. President Xi Jinping has emphasized that the corridor’s planning and layout should cover all regions of Pakistan, ensuring that development benefits all Pakistanis. As CPEC enters its “2.0 upgraded version”, the two sides will focus on three priority areas-industry, agriculture and mining-and jointly build five corridors: growth, livelihoods, innovation, green and openness. This will better unlock Pakistan’s development potential and enable it to share more opportunities of China’s modernization.
Enhancing Multilateral Coordination to Demonstrate the Global South’s Sense of Responsibility. As all-weather strategic cooperative partners, China and Pakistan have maintained close communication and coordination on major global and regional issues. Since the outbreak of the US-Israel-Iran conflict, President Xi Jinping has put forward four propositions on safeguarding and promoting peace and stability in the Middle East, which Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif positively responded to and highly praised. China and Pakistan have actively promoted peace talks and jointly issued a five-point initiative on restoring peace and stability. As members of the Global South, China and Pakistan firmly uphold the international system with the UN at its core and the international order based on international law. Pakistan has been at the forefront in implementing the four major global initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping. The exemplary effect of China-Pakistan cooperation has transcended bilateral relations, injecting valuable stability into a turbulent international and regional landscape.
At present,transformations of the world unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace. China is implementing 15th Five-Year Plan, while Pakistan is advancing Uraan Pakistan initiative. Both countries’ modernization drives and bilateral cooperation across all fields are embracing new milestones and important opportunities. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties, China stands ready to work with Pakistan to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the two leaders, deepen high-level political mutual trust, high-quality pragmatic cooperation and high-standard international coordination. We will leverage the certainty of China-Pakistan relations to address uncertainties in the international situation, set a powerful example for building a community with a shared future for neighboring countries, and make greater contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind.
The writer is the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Pakistan.