FM Wang Yi urges faster progress towards China-Pakistan Economic Corridor 2.0

SCMP | Aug. 22, 2025, 2 a.m. | Original

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Thursday. Photo: AFP

In a whirlwind series of meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other senior officials in Islamabad on Thursday, Wang also vowed to improve security collaboration to counter the country’s long-standing terrorism threats, which have often targeted Chinese nationals.

“China has always been Pakistan’s most reliable partner and strongest backer,” he told Sharif, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

“Both sides should accelerate the construction of the 2.0 upgrade version of [the CPEC], focusing on the three major areas of agriculture, industry, and mining,” Wang said, adding that China would help Islamabad to “comprehensively improve self-development ability” and “enhance resilience for external challenges”.

Sharif said Islamabad also wanted cooperation in “aerospace, information technology, and infrastructure”, and pledged that Pakistan would make a “full effort” to secure the safety of Chinese nationals and projects from terrorist attacks.

China has invested more than US$65 billion in the CPEC, which includes the China-managed Gwadar Port linking Xinjiang and the Arabian Sea. The second phase of the project, according to Pakistan, involves setting up special economic zones.

In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post earlier this year, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Pakistan’s finance minister, said CPEC 2.0 would enable the country to become an export hub and generate enough foreign currency to pay its debt.

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