The CPC and World Political Parties Summit was held via video link on Tuesday in Beijing. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, called on political parties to strengthen cooperation to tackle global challenges including COVID-19 pandemic, inequality, terrorism, and climate change.

Haroon Sharif, Former Minister of State and Chairman of Board of Investment in Pakistan, who now leads the China Center as a visiting fellow in Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, shared his insights into President Xi’s speech at the CPC and World Political Parties Summit, as well as China’s Xiaokang, namely the moderate prosperity in the exclusive interview with GDToday & Newsgd.com.

The vision of shared prosperity is a breath of fresh air for the world

GDToday: On July 1st, President Xi announced that China has realized its centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. The achieving of moderate prosperity, or Xiaokang in Chinese, what do you think China and Pakistan can learn from each other's experiences?

Haroon Sharif: President Xi's vision of shared prosperity is a breath of fresh air in the world today,where we see lots of tensions, conflicts and wars. What we need to learn from China is that even if we have territorial or other disputes, we need to work for the prosperity of people through regional connectivity, and expanding markets for the people. And both countries need to learn from each other for the changes at policy level, at institutional level, and at people-to-people contact level for better understanding.

CPEC opened up new opportunities

GDToday: China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) leads to a collection of infrastructure projects under construction throughout Pakistan since 2013. What changes has it brought to Pakistan these years? Could you please talk about its meaning to regional development?

Haroon Sharif: CPEC is a game changer for Pakistan and China. We have addressed the critical problems of regional connectivity, because it opens up Western China’s market to Pakistan. New opportunities for business have opened up, the traveling time has been cut, and the cost of doing business will go down. So, I think China and Pakistan should work together, with China's technology and Pakistan's labor force combined. We can jointly export goods to regional and international markets.

Countries should join hands to reduce income disparities

GDToday: At the CPC and World Political Parties Summit on Tuesday, President Xi delivered a keynote speech. He noted, "On the road to the well-being of all mankind, no country or nation should be left behind." What's your take on this opinion?

Haroon Sharif: I think this is simply brilliant. Leaders should all learn from President Xi’s message of inclusive development globally. Now the income disparities are causing a lot of problems, so this message from a world leader is thought-provoking. Now, the challenge is to come up with policies that the richer countries join hands with poor countries, rather than competing with them or keeping them poor for a longer time. China can take a lead and extend a helping hand, and Pakistan should partner with China in this effort.

Planning | Zhao Yang

Reporter | Keane, Hannah

Video | Axin, Jason (intern)

Editor | Wing, Ou Xiaoming, Jerry

Art Design | Mia

Huang Yanting (intern) also contributed to this report.