ISLAMABAD: Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that China would always stand firm with Pakistan regardless of any change in international landscape and emphasised that both countries would continue to improve overall planning and deepen cooperation.

The Chinese president, in his congratulatory message on Decade of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), said China and Pakistan would continue to work jointly to carry forward the ironclad friendship, coordinate development and security, besides pursuing cooperation of higher standards.

He said China and Pakistan would also keep working to take their all-weather strategic cooperative partnership to new heights to make even greater contribution to peace and prosperity in the two countries and the region.

In the message, that was also read out by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng at the ceremony held here to commemorate the Decade of CPEC, President Xi Jinping said that China would work with Pakistan to achieve high-standard and sustainable outcomes, and further build CPEC into an exemplary project of the Belt and Road Initiative.

President Xi said that CPEC was a flagship project of the BRI and since its launch in 2013, both countries had been advancing it under the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits.

The Chinese president said that CPEC had added new impetus to the economic and social development of Pakistan, and laid a foundation for regional connectivity and integration.

He said that CPEC served as “a vivid testament to the all-weather friendship between China and Pakistan”, and stressed the need for both nations to continue to improve overall planning and scale up bilateral cooperation under it.