China-Pakistan to further strengthen multilateral cooperation in new year: Sun Weidong.

BEIJING -- Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong said that China and Pakistan should expand cooperation in various fields, and strengthen multilateral coordination and cooperation in the new year.

The two sides should further deepen the institutional exchanges between their corresponding departments, and take the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative as an opportunity to improve the quality and efficiency of the construction of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he said during his recent meeting with Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque, according to a statement issued by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs here.

He said that the China-Pakistan friendship has withstood various tests and grown stronger as time goes by. President Xi Jinping's state visit to Pakistan in 2015 has become a milestone in the history of bilateral relations.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's successful visit to China last November and his meeting with President Xi Jinping have provided new guidance for the development of bilateral relations, he added.

Sun Weidong said that China is ready to work with Pakistan to follow through on the important common understanding reached between the leaders of the two countries, and take bilateral relations to a higher level.

The Pakistani...