Pak team visits China to enhance bilateral co-op
A 12-member Pakistani media delegation has paid a five-day visit of China to enhance cooperation and deepen mutual understanding between the media of the two countries. The delegation arrived here at the invitation of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, under the joint organization of Economic Daily - China Economic Net, POWERCHINA and Huawei toured Beijing and Shenzhen during their stay in China.
Members of the delegation included Vice President Tahir Farooq of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), as well as senior journalists from mainstream media in Pakistan including The Nation, The News, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), Dunya
Media Group, ARY News, Pakistan Today, the Pakistan Observer, and the Daily Urdu.
Deputy Director-General Yao Wen at the Department of Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant officials met with the members of the delegation and exchanged views with the guests on topics such as China's economic development, the construction of the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor, and the media cooperation between the two nations.
During its tour to POWERCHINA, the delegation visited the urban rail transit and water environment management projects undertaken by the company, and listened to an introduction to the company's business development in Pakistan.
They expressed their admiration for the achievements of POWERCHINA in the construction of the China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor. According to the delegation, Pakistan had faced frequent power outages caused by a shortage of electricity, which seriously affected the normal life of residents and the production and operations of industrial manufacturing.
As the first implemented energy project of the "ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor", the Qasim coal-fired power plant constructed by POWERCHINA has played a vital role in alleviating the power shortage, promoting the local economic development and improving the people's life in Pakistan.
According to a report compiled by Economic Daily - China Economic Net, so far, the 2×660MW Port Qasim coal-fired power plant has generated 6.6 billion kWh of electricity this year. Since it was put into operation, it has generated 14.4 billion kWh of electricity, greatly alleviating the local power shortage.
At the peak of the project construction, more than 3,000 Pakistani employees were employed, accounting for 55% of all the construction workers. Since the power plant was put into commercial operation, it has provided more than 600 long-term jobs for the local people, and the accumulated tax payment has exceeded USD225 million, making great contributions to the economic development of Pakistan.
Meanwhile, great importance is attached to the green development of the power plant. The production and domestic water comes from seawater desalination. Accumulatively, the total amount of desalinated seawater has exceeded 98 million tons. The production and domestic wastewater is recycled after purification to achieve "zero" discharge of wastewater.