Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar meets Chinese envoy to review CPEC progress

In Islamabad, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a meeting with Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong to review the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and strengthen bilateral relations. Dar praised the widening "all-weather strategic cooperative partnership" and called for continued high-level engagement to secure long-term regional stability. Discussions covered advancing trade, investment, regional connectivity, agricultural modernisation and people-to-people exchanges.

Officials also addressed accelerating the corridor’s second phase, which will focus on industrialisation, technology transfer and export-driven growth. Earlier this month, a 22-member delegation from Xinjiang visited Islamabad to seek joint ventures in agriculture, mining, manufacturing and special economic zones, while Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal urged Chinese investors to help transform Pakistan into a regional production hub. The first phase of CPEC has already attracted roughly $25 billion in Chinese investment.