China offers US$500m preferential loan to Pakistan
( 2003-11-05 00:02) (Xinhua)
China has offered a
preferential loan of 500 million US dollars to Pakistan for bilateral trade and
economic cooperation, said An Min, Chinese vice-minister of commerce Tuesday.
An announced the deal, offered by Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday
during his talks with visiting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
He said at a Pakistan-China business forum the trade and economic cooperation
between China and Pakistan is fruitful, with many projects completed in
Pakistan.
"Pakistan and China are cooperating in the economic field since the inception
of our friendship," Musharraf said at the forum. " There are numerous monuments
of this friendship all across Pakistan, such as Karakarun Highway, Heavy
Mechanical and Electrical complexes, Saindak copper and gold mines project and
more recently the Gwadar Deep Sea Port".
He said the Gwadar project, including the port and the highway from Gwadar to
Karachi, would be completed before December 2004 and Pakistan would build a road
system linking the two ports and build a free trade zone.
Riaz Mohammad Khan, Pakistan ambassador to China, said Gwadar Port would be
the third largest port in Pakistan and it would improve regional trade
development.
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