{"id":11443,"date":"2025-09-20T13:23:38","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T13:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2025\/09\/20\/advancing-pakistan-china-ties-people-linkages\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T13:23:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T13:23:38","slug":"advancing-pakistan-china-ties-people-linkages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2025\/09\/20\/advancing-pakistan-china-ties-people-linkages\/","title":{"rendered":"Advancing Pakistan China Ties through People Linkages"},"content":{"rendered":"

The China-Pakistan Study Centre at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad launched a new book titled Pakistan and China: Connecting at People\u2019s Level<\/strong>, highlighting the social and cultural dimensions that underpin Pakistan China ties. The event drew senior diplomats, academics and policymakers who reflected on how human connectivity complements strategic and economic cooperation.<\/p>\n

Director General Ambassador Sohail Mahmood described Pakistan China ties as unique, rooted in mutual respect and strategic trust, and lasting through regional and global changes for more than seven decades. He argued that while CPEC and the Belt and Road Initiative have strengthened economic and physical connectivity, the future of Pakistan China ties depends on sustained people-to-people links in public diplomacy, cultural exchanges, academic cooperation, tourism and soft power.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Mahmood pointed to the recently adopted China-Pakistan Five-Year Action Plan 2025\u201329, noting a dedicated chapter on people-to-people exchanges as evidence of top-level recognition that social and academic linkages are central to long-term friendship. He urged commemorative initiatives for the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2026 with broad youth, student, artist and media engagement, as well as enhanced visa facilitation and air connectivity to deepen Pakistan China ties.<\/p>\n

Former Ambassador Moin-ul-Haque emphasised that Pakistan China ties remain the cornerstone of Pakistan\u2019s foreign policy and outlined five priority areas for strengthening people-level connections: civilizational bonds, cultural exchange, economic partnership, technology collaboration and tourism. He highlighted practical ideas such as Gandhara civilisation exhibitions, joint IT parks across provinces and organised group tourism to foster wider engagement.<\/p>\n

Dr. Hassan Daud Butt said the book arrives as CPEC enters a second phase marked by deeper institutional and societal linkages. He praised the publication for showcasing education, maritime tourism and cultural initiatives that sustain Pakistan China ties, and linked its findings to President Xi Jinping\u2019s Global Civilization Initiative while recommending broader dissemination of the study.<\/p>\n

Dr. Sundus Mustaqeem urged Pakistan to bolster its film and digital media footprint as part of a wider push in education, culture, media and tourism. Ms. Aiza Azam highlighted how people-to-people exchanges extend across business, cuisine, academia and the arts, and called for structured academic dialogue to build a shared vision for deeper Pakistan China ties.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Masood Khalid welcomed the book\u2019s focus on maritime tourism and the blue economy, noting the potential to generate up to USD 1.5 billion annually through collaboration with China. He recommended expanding sister-city partnerships, cultural exchanges and think-tank cooperation under the new five-year plan, while warning against attempts to create misunderstandings and urging stronger grassroots engagement.<\/p>\n

Mr. Xu Hangtian, Minister-Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy and guest of honour, echoed that people are the foundation of history and future. He cited mutual support during COVID-19 and natural disasters, the rise in sister-city linkages from eight to nineteen, nearly doubled Pakistani student enrolment in China, and a 17% increase in Chinese business visas for Pakistanis in 2024 with further growth in 2025. He stressed media, tourism and youth engagement, warned about disinformation, and called for counterterrorism cooperation to unlock the full potential of exchanges and strengthen Pakistan China ties.<\/p>\n

Dr. Talat Shabbir noted the book\u2019s timely emphasis on the often-overlooked people-to-people dimension, from student mobility to cultural empathy, as essential to sustaining partnerships beyond major projects. In closing, Ambassador Khalid Mahmood commended the China-Pakistan Study Centre for a well-researched publication that adds important depth to public diplomacy efforts aimed at advancing Pakistan China ties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discover how ISSI’s new book advances Pakistan China ties by promoting cultural, educational and tourism exchanges ahead of the 75th anniversary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":11442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}