Pakistani finance minister praises high-quality cooperation with China during Boao Forum

China's high-quality opening-up has driven exemplary cooperation projects with global partners, said Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2025.

Often referred to as the "Asian Davos", the four-day conference, which started in the coastal town of Boao in south China's Hainan Province on Tuesday, has drawn nearly 2,000 attendees from more than 60 countries to participate in more than 50 events under the theme "Asia in the Changing World: Towards a Shared Future."

In an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Aurangzeb highlighted China's development philosophy of embracing global cooperation, where Pakistan fully recognizes this model and is actively becoming a part of the vision.

"Everything that China is doing at this point in time in terms of opening up the economy and the financial markets and that opening up has been going on for a while. But yesterday here at the Boao Forum, I heard some very interesting statistics. And one statistic which has stayed with me is that roughly 50 percent of the exports from China are being done through foreign firms. So, that just shows the openness with which China is embracing the world," said Aurangzeb.

"I have been advocating and I'm very keen that Pakistan, taking advantage of the second largest and deepest capital market in the world, that we go for an inaugural Panda bond and we issue that because Pakistan has done previously many issues in U.S. dollar, in euro, but we haven't done that in the context of the Chinese capital market. So, we are very hopeful that during this calendar year we will do that," he said.

Speaking about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of China's Belt and Road construction that launched in 2013, Aurangzeb noted that the first phase of project has brought tremendous progress in Pakistan's infrastructure construction.

"As you know, CPEC was the flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative. And in phase one of that, it played already a very critical role in building the infrastructure in Pakistan. This had to do with the power plants on the energy side, the road infrastructure, the port infrastructure. And now, we will be entering phase two of CPEC as we go forward," he said.

The CPEC is a corridor linking the Gwadar Port in southwest Pakistan's Balochistan Province with Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The project highlights energy, transport, and industrial cooperation in the first phase, which in the new phase expands to fields of agriculture and livelihood, among others.

Pakistani finance minister praises high-quality cooperation with China during Boao Forum

Chinese expatriates and residents in Myanmar have volunteered to coordinate large-scale relief operations to communities affected by a devastating earthquake in Mandalay, the second largest city in the country.

The 7.5-magnitude quake, which struck central Myanmar on Saturday, has left 1,700 killed, 3,400 injured and 300 missing, according to the Sunday statement from the country's State Administration Council.

Chinese nationals residing in Myanmar swiftly organized aid networks, establishing over a dozen volunteer groups and fund-raising channels to deliver critical supplies to hard-hit regions, including Mandalay.

Relief materials, including drinking water, food, and medical supplies, have been gathered in Yangon, the capital, which serves as the main hub for collecting donations. Local residents began donating these items on Saturday, with plans to transport them to disaster zones as early as Monday.

Many overseas Chinese living in Yangon drove more than 10 hours overnight to deliver supplies, such as antiseptics, gloves and N95 masks, to rescue teams in Mandalay. Many restaurants offered free meals to rescue workers.

The journey to Mandalay has been challenging due to severe damage to roads, with some routes taking more than 10 hours instead of the usual seven.

"Normally it takes seven or eight hours, but now it's a detour that could cost a dozen hours. We didn't suffer big loss. We just do some delivery errands, the least we can contribute. Others have made relatively great contributions. We didn't help much. What's important is to get the supplies there in time," said Li Chengyuan, head of a Rangoon-based logistics company.

Despite the logistical hurdles, the Yangon market remains well-stocked, allowing for the procurement of necessary items at normal prices.

Nevertheless, essential services such as power supply and communications in disaster-hit areas like Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw have not yet returned to normal, complicating rescue efforts further.

Large rescue machinery is still struggling to enter disaster-hit areas due to the poor road condition between Yangon and Mandalay.

Relief supplies were rushed to the earthquake-stricken areas. On Saturday, China's Yunnan Province launched an emergency response mechanism to prepare tents, blankets, foldable beds and other relief supplies, with the first batch of supplies arriving in Myanmar on Saturday by air.

Chinese volunteers channel relief material shipment to quake-hit Mandalay