BEIJING, Oct. 15 (INP): China will support IMF’s cooperation with Pakistan and will provide it an objective assessment of the country’s current situation in a professional spirit.

As a member of the IMF, we support this World body in assisting the Pakistani government to properly cope with its current financial difficulties, this was stated by the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Lu Kang at a regular news briefing.

He expressed his confidence that the relevant measures will not affect the normal bilateral cooperation between China and Pakistan.

About the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the spokesperson said, this project built by the governments of China and Pakistan on the principle of joint construction and sharing.

The project selection and financing arrangements are decided by equal consultation between the two sides.

About the issue of debt burden on Pakistan, Lu Kang said, in fact, everyone has also noticed that from the debt structure announced by the Pakistani government, the proportion of corridor debt in the debt structure of the Pakistani government is very low, which is not the cause of the current financial difficulties in Pakistan.

He made it clear that China is willing to continue to work with the Pakistani side to continuously push the corridor construction into a stage of enrichment and expansion, and help Pakistan enhance its independent development capability.

As a member of the International Monetary Fund, China supports the organization's objective evaluation of Pakistan based on professionalism and effectively assists Pakistan to respond to current difficulties.

The relevant measures should not affect the normal bilateral cooperation between China and Pakistan.

For some time, the parties concerned have had more discussions on Pakistan’s debt problems and the financial difficulties caused by debt.

As he mentioned earlier, he said from the debt structure announced by the Pakistani government itself, the debt caused by corridor construction accounts for a very low proportion of Pakistan’s debt composition, and certainly is not the cause of the current financial difficulties in Pakistan.

The head of the relevant government department of Pakistan has also expressed this view in the recent press statement, he added.

INP/J/AJ