Islamabad: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal says China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has played a transformative role in strengthening Pakistan's energy security, infrastructure, and connectivity. He was addressing the Annual Awards Ceremony for Outstanding Pakistani and Chinese Staff of CPEC Projects 2026 in Islamabad today.

According to Radio Pakistan, the Minister highlighted that with 43 projects worth approximately twenty-five billion dollars completed and nearly 9,000 MW added to the national grid, Pakistan has made significant progress in overcoming longstanding structural challenges. He emphasized that CPEC is now entering Phase II, marking a strategic shift from infrastructure development to industrialization, innovation, and inclusive growth.

Addressing the ceremony, Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong reaffirmed the continued commitment of both countries to advancing an upgraded version of CPEC 2.0. He noted that bilateral cooperation is expanding into new sectors including agriculture, mining, and social development.

Two important signings were also held during the ceremony. The first was the signing of the minutes of the 14th Joint Cooperation Committee meeting of CPEC. The second signing was of the Acceptance Certificate for Provision of Solar Home Systems, Intelligent Ground Meteorological Observation Station, and Integrated Cloud-Based Early Warning Supporting System Under China-Pakistan South-South Cooperation for Climate Change Response.