TFD Report
PESHAWAR: The Pakistan-China Friendship Association (PCFA) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province organized a dignified ceremony at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House, Islamabad, to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 70th anniversary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The event brought together prominent dignitaries, including Speaker of the KP Assembly Babar Saleem Swati, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zedong, and PCFA KP President Yousaf Ayub Khan. Other participants included KP Minister for Revenue Nazir Abbasi, MPAs Jalal Khan (PML-N), Mian Sharafat Ali (PTI), Akbar Ayub Khan (Chief Whip), Chairman of the FATA Tribunal Syed Zaheer ul Islam, and several friends of China from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. From the Chinese Embassy, Minister Counsellor Xu Hangtian, Head of Public Diplomacy Liu Chang, senior staff member Wang Yiqui, and officials from CPEC-related projects also attended. The ceremony concluded with a cake-cutting.
In his address, PCFA KP President Yousaf Ayub Khan highlighted the enduring nature of the Pakistan-China friendship, calling it an “everlasting bond.” He pointed to the Sister City Program between Peshawar and Urumqi as a shining example of deepening people-to-people ties.
Ambassador Jiang Zedong, in his remarks, underscored the steady strengthening of Pakistan-China relations over the years. He emphasized the importance of educational, cultural, and public exchanges to pass this friendship to future generations. He also noted China’s provision of scholarships to Pakistani students and stressed the need for ensuring the security of Chinese experts and workers engaged in CPEC projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Highlighting China’s economic success, he said the country’s GDP had reached $14 trillion, adding that bilateral economic cooperation would continue to expand.
Speaker of the KP Assembly, Babar Saleem Swati, said that Pakistan-China ties were a “guarantee of peace and development in the region.” He praised China’s development model as a source of valuable lessons for Pakistan.
PCFA KP Secretary General Syed Ali Nawaz Gilani recalled historical milestones in bilateral ties, including Premier Zhou Enlai’s 1956 visit to Peshawar, and noted that Peshawar became the first city in the world to establish a sister-city relationship with Urumqi in 1985. This year marks the 40th anniversary of that partnership.
Speakers at the ceremony lauded China’s developmental and economic progress in Xinjiang, praising the Communist Party of China’s efforts to uplift living standards in the western region. They emphasized that Xinjiang’s economic transformation is linking it with Central and South Asia, positioning it as an emerging global hub.
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