It is the largest transportation infrastructure project completed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor framework, said a spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry Wang Wenbin at a news briefing.

The spokesperson said, the handover of the project is an epitome of the CPEC going ahead against the impact of COVID-19. China stands ready to work together with Pakistan to act on our leaders' consensus hile continuing existing projects, shift more energy onto cooperation in areas like social welfare, industry and agriculture.

It will help to turn the CPEC into a demonstration project of high quality BRI development and bring more benefits to people in both countries and beyond.

Wang Wenbin added, the Peshawar-Karachi Motorway is an early harvest project and the largest transportation infrastructure project under the CPEC. The Sukkur-Multan section has been completed and officially handed over to the Pakistani side.

The motorway links two important cities Sukkur and Multan, reducing traffic time from 11 hours to around 4. Based on my information, during the construction, about 29,000 local jobs were created.

The project runs through major areas producing economic crops and gives a direct boost to socioeconomic development along its route.

The Chinese contracting company also improved social welfare in villages along the routes by constructing school buildings, roads and bridges, digging wells and irrigation works.

INP/javed