— China, Pakistan working to launch China-Pakistan Information Corridor (CPIC) to expand information sharing, negate fake news
ISLAMABAD: Political and Press Counsellor Wang Shengjie on Wednesday said that China welcomes Saudi Arabia’s investment plans in developing a rail link between Western Pakistan and Gwadar Port as China and Pakistan greet third party cooperation in the China, Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Briefing a select group of media professionals here at the Chinese Embassy, Counsellor Wang Shengjie said, “We welcome any investment by third-party as CPEC is an ‘Open Corridor’. We want to combine all advantages for achieving the ultimate objective of Pakistan’s socio-economic developments”.
He said that both countries are also working together to expand information sharing and negate fake news under China-Pakistan Information Corridor (CPIC).
Wang Shengjie said that the China-Pakistan Information Corridor (CPIC) would help expand media cooperation and collaboration between Pakistani and Chinese media outlets and would act as a bridge between media organisations of the two countries.
Counsellor Wang said that the CPIC is aimed at mobilizing the media to keep the people well-informed about the positive developments, particularly those taking place under the 2nd phase of the CPEC, which mainly focus on industrial, agriculture, mineral and IT sector development as well as those concerning with public welfare.
“We want to mobilize all the available resources to bridge the information gap about various aspects of the relationship taking place in various spheres of life and to adopt a holistic approach to counter unfounded news. He hoped under the CPIC, both Pakistani and Chinese media will formulate new working mechanism for projecting development and security-related news in their true prospective,” he added.
He said that a series of interactive sessions with Pakistani media would be held to provide Pakistani media the latest update on growing Sino-Pakistan cooperative partnership and projects related to China, Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – the flagship project of the multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Counsellor Wang Shengjie said that the Chinese Embassy also wants to provide a new platform under CPIC to develop working partnership between media organisations of the two sides.
“The interactive sessions to be held from time to time with different media groups will help to expand the coverage of positive and development news about the Sino-Pak ties and the CPEC. There will also be a digital platform too. A Secretariat of Chinese companies will be working here to provide update on CPCP-related projects,” he added.
Under the new initiative, Wang Shengjie said, the Chinese Embassy will keep holding a press briefing on emerging issues and it will be an opportunity to promote mutual learning and understanding.
He asserted that the Embassy wishes to closely work with the Electronic, digital and print media to counter the fake news, that sometimes come up from vested quarters.
He told the media personnel that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and the Information Minister Attaullah Tarar attached great importance to the positive pro-active role of media in implementing the 2nd phase of CPEC on fast-track basis, with close cooperation of public and private sector.
During the interactive session, the media team of the Embassy exchanged ideas with the participating journalists as how to strengthen media’s role in giving further boost to their cooperative ties.
