PESHAWAR   -  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Health Syed Qasim Ali Shah on Wednesday said that Pakistan and China are long-standing friends whose friendship is considered exemplary worldwide.

He expressed these views while talking to the media persons dur­ing his visit to China Window, a Chinese cultural centre in Pesha­war. The provincial minister visit­ed various galleries of China Win­dow, signed the friendship wall, and recorded his comments in the guests’ book.

On the occasion, Shah said that the main reason for Pakistan-Chi­na relations is the full trust of both countries in each other and help­ing each other in difficult times. He also said that besides the friend­ly relationship between the two countries, the economic and cul­tural relations are also enviable.

In this regard, he referred to CPEC and said that the project is a proud project for the econom­ic development of Pakistan. He said that with the establishment of Rashakai Economic Zone, more than two lakh employment op­portunities will be created where the factories will be set up. Like­wise, Pakistan will also get valua­ble foreign exchange from exports to Central Asian countries, includ­ing Afghanistan.

In response to a question relat­ed to law and order, Qasim Shah said that the provincial govern­ment and security agencies are us­ing all resources to maintain law and order, and all foreigners, in­cluding Chinese, would be pro­vided with all possible security. The minister said that the found­er chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan, also wanted to build better relations with Chi­na, but some circles tried to create misunderstandings in which they did not succeed.

Regarding Chinese cultural cen­tre established in Peshawar, he said that the China Window has given the people of Peshawar and the people of Khyber Pakhtunkh­wa an opportunity to come clos­er to their Chinese brothers and sisters, and they believe that the message of friendship to the Chi­nese people from Peshawar is commendable, while the Chinese language teaching program in Chi­na Window is also commendable.

The minister on behalf of the provincial government assured that Pakistan-China relations, es­pecially at the public level, are rich for communication and coopera­tion will be provided.

Earlier, they were briefed about China Window and were told that the centre of Pakistan-Chi­na friendship has been visited by more than two lakh people in a short time. China Window has played an important role in Paki­stan-China friendship.