BEIJING, Dec 1: The Chinese government has assured its all possible support to Pakistan for development of oil, gas and coal resources, said Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Usman Aminuddin.

The Minister, who held a number of meetings with the Chinese officials and experts to seek their cooperation for exploration of natural resources in Pakistan, said “the response of their Chinese friends is very positive and encouraging.”

He told APP here on Saturday that China National Petroleum Corporation would immediately send its technical delegation to Pakistan to evaluate, as what role it can play in drilling of oil and gas. He said he was expecting substantial help from China in development of petroleum and mineral resources.

Usman said he had a very fruitful meeting with Chinese Minister for Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) Shi Guang Sheng on Friday, who assured him their maximum participation in the development activities in Pakistan. He said there was a strong desire on both the sides to further strengthen their bilateral relations in all fields of common interests.

He hoped that the President Pervez Musharraf’s visit to China next month would give a new boost to their economic ties and the two sides would enter into some new agreements for joint collaboration in various fields, including mining, thermal, hydropower, oil and gas. He termed his visit to China as very useful in identifying new avenues of cooperation.

The minister said he was also expecting China’s cooperation in offshore drilling. He said he had a detailed meeting with Zhou Shouwei, Vice President China National Offshore Oil Company, who may also soon send their technical delegation to Pakistan to prepare a feasibility report on the offshore drilling.

He said China has already agreed to extend its support for development of Thar Coal field. In this connection, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is likely to be signed during the forthcoming visit of President Musharraf.

The government, he said, had already identified a specific area at Thar, to be handed over to a Chinese Company for its development.

The Minister hoped that the Thar field, which according to an estimate carries about 175 billion cubic metric tons of coal deposits would become another symbol of Sino-Pak friendship.

A power plant to be set up at Thar with the Chinese assistance would generate about 600 megawatt of electricity at the initial stage. Later, this plant will be upgraded to produce 3,000-megawatt electricity daily, the Minister added. Two technical delegations from China have already visited Pakistan to hold initial study of the project, after the visit of Chinese Primer Zhu Rongji to Pakistan in last May.

On Saturday, the Minister left for Shanghai on a two-day visit. He is scheduled to return home on Monday.—APP