During the ninth Joint Cooperation meeting of CPEC, China and Pakistan on Tuesday agreed to further cooperation in different fields under the China- Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Pakistani Minister of Planning, Development and Reforms Khusro Bakhtiar said that this year was a significant year for CPEC as several significant milestones were achieved or will be achieved by the end of the year, Xinhua reported.

Around 200 participants who have come from both sides’ governments, finance institutes and companies, Bakhtiar further said,”The recent visits of Prime Minister Imran Khan and his interaction with Chinese leadership has, in true sense, broadened and enhanced the scope of future cooperation in diverse fields of agriculture, industrial and socio-economic development.

The minister said that CPEC is a corridor which opens doors of cooperation to the whole region and beyond, adding his country has established CPEC Authority which will work as a one window for all CPEC related issues so that the Pakistani government can fasten the pace of projects and remove all bottlenecks for efficient implementation of the projects.

“The Chinese side will implement the consensus reached by the leaders of both sides and will enhance coordination, strengthen mutual trust so as to achieve more pragmatic results under CPEC and to forge a closer China-Pakistan community of shared future in the new era,” said the Chinese official.

During the meeting, CPEC working groups in energy, transportation infrastructure, industrial cooperation, Gwadar Port and social-economic sectors reported progress have been done in the areas and reached a series of agreements.

The two sides also signed and exchanged cooperation documents on health, youth exchanges and Gwadar Port development.

Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also held a meeting with Ning.

In April this year, both the sides, China and Pakistan firmed up cooperation under the USD 60 billion CPEC by signing a host of agreements that included up-gradation of a Karachi-Peshawar railway line, launching of the second phase of the Free Trade Agreement and establishment of a dry port.

India protested to China over the CPEC as it was being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok).

(With inputs from agency)