KARACHI, March 30: China hopes that the forthcoming visit of prime minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali to Beijing in connection with the Asian Economic Forum meeting would further consolidate the time-tested friendship between the two countries.

This view was expressed by the Chinese Consul-General Sun Chunye while addressing the Sindh committee of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors. He said that friendship between China and Pakistan was a good example for other nations to emulate and added that economic relations between the two countries had gained a new dimension.

This could be gauged from the fact that bilateral trade turnover, which was $1.8 billion in 2002, had jumped to $2.5 billion in 2003. This year the figure is expected to further increase.

The Chinese consul-general, who lauded Pakistan's one-China policy and support on other issues, said that in order to meet the challenges of WTO, which would become effective in 2005, it was necessary that ties between the two countries should be raised to optimum level.

He also referred to the presence of China's leading trading and manufacturing companies in Pakistan and said that the Gwadar port project, Saindak copper and Thar coal projects, the Karachi- Lahore oil pipeline project and improvement of rolling stocks of the Pakistan Railways were some of the outstanding examples of bilateral economic cooperation.

According to the consul-general, 200 Chinese engineering personnel were stationed in Karachi. Similarly, more than 5,000 Pakistani businessmen were stationed near Shanghai for promoting business.

The Chinese Consul General stressed the need for improving the quality of Pakistani products and said his country was keen to make its contribution to the strengthening of a stable society in Pakistan. CPNE's president Mahmoodul Aziz welcomed the consul-general and assured him of Pakistan's commitment to friendship with China.