BEIJING: China’s very generous and timely assistance to Pakistan is immensely helpful in reinforcing the country’s post-flood recovery, said Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque.
While the capital and goods aid have been delivered from the Chinese side, the resumption of key infrastructure projects is well underway with joint efforts, according to the ambassador, including regarding safety measures for Chinese personnel and projects, a key factor to ensure the country’s reconstruction.
While Pakistan is suffering from one of the worst natural calamities in the shape of floods, China, as always, responded immediately to the crisis situation, the ambassador said in an exclusive interview with Global Times.
Since the disaster, more than 640 million yuan ($89.94 million) worth of relief assistance in cash and kind has been committed by the Chinese central government, Chinese Army, provincial governments, NGOs and state-owned and private enterprises. Even the Chinese public has made generous cash donations to the Embassy’s Flood Relief account, according to the embassy.
“The outpouring and sympathy from across China is very touching and a true reflection of our time-tested friendship,” Haque said.
The Chinese government’s first tranche of assistance has mostly been delivered in Pakistan through dozens of special flights which included large quantities of essential relief goods such as tents, blankets, high-energy biscuits, water purifiers and electricity generators. Teams of doctors and experts on damage assessment are traveling to Pakistan to help the flood victims.
In addition to providing financial and goods aid, the Chinese government and companies have committed to help in the post-flood rehabilitation and reconstruction phase. At key infrastructure projects, including China-developed hydropower plants, efforts are well underway, despite challenges.
For example, the Karot Hydropower Station, invested in and constructed by the China Three Gorges Corporation, ran safely and stably for 100 days, with a cumulative power generation of 1.537 billion kWh.
“Karot Hydropower Station is an important project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which has added 720MW of clean energy to our national grid, thus helping reduce 3.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
Fortunately, no damage has been caused to Karot and other hydropower projects developed by Chinese enterprises in Pakistan by the recent catastrophic floods,” the ambassador said. –Agencies
