‘China’s trust on indigenous values, wisdom and socio-economic reforms led it towards the path of prosperity and development’
ISLAMABAD: Speakers at a seminar on Saturday were of the view that Pakistan has a lot to learn from China in order to tackle various socio-economic challenges, including poverty and corruption.
They said China’s trust on indigenous values, wisdom and socio-economic reforms led it towards the path of prosperity and development.
A seminar titled “Forty Years of Chinese Reforms: Lessons for Pakistan” was organized by the Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies (IPDS) in collaboration with Centre for Belt and Road Initiative and CPEC Studies.
Speaking on the occasion, Acting Ambassador of China Zhao Lijian said that China’s GDP will surpass $13 trillion in the current year, which is roughly 60 times more than what it was in the year 1978, when reforms began.
“It is the second largest economy in the world with GDP accounting more than 15 per cent of the global economy,” Zhao Lijian.
He said that for the past 40 years, China was developing at an unprecedented rate because it kept the citizens at the centre by bringing reforms pertaining to poverty alleviation, property rights, and environmental protection.
He also briefed the participants on how China was putting economic and social development at the centerstage of policymaking.
Sharing Pakistani perspective, Ministry of Foreign Affair Parliamentary Secretary Andleeb Abbas said Pak-China friendship was “not a fair-weather friendship rather an all-weather friendship”.
She said that Pakistan should learn from China in order to address poverty and corruption woes, adding that both areas were among the top agendas of the government.
Dr Shazia Ghani, a research scholar, on the occasion said, “What we must learn from China is that there is no alternative to reforms.”
She explained as to what triggered Chinese reforms, what was its strategy, how was it different from other countries and what are the possible lessons that Pakistan can learn.
International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) Department of Politics head Manzoor Khan Afridi shed light on the stages of reforms that took place in China and how China not only economically but politically engaged with the world with institution like SCO and projects like BRI and CPEC.
IPDS founder Farhat Asif highlighted the recent initiative of the Centre for Belt and Road Initiative and CPEC Studies. A large number of students, researchers, academia, diplomats, media personals, and members of civil society attended the seminar.
