Chinese envoys, media team visit CPEC projects

LAHORE: The four-day visit of Chinese Consulate staff and media delegates to various CPEC-related projects in different parts of Punjab concluded on Friday. The visit was a part of the 10 years celebration of the CPEC project.

On Friday, the media delegation and the Chinese Consulate staff visited Matiari Lahore Transmission Line and the Conversion Centre situated close to district Nankana. Chairman Institute of International Relations and Media Research (IIRMR) M Mehdi, President Yasir Habib Khan, Commercial Consul Chinese Consulate Lahore Yan Yang, Commercial Attache Chen Bo and others were also the part of the delegation.

Deputy CEO of Pak Matiari Lahore Transmission Line Ma Desheng in his briefing to media said that the project was aimed at strengthening the electricity transmission system. He said due to the Matiari Lahore (ML) Transmission Line, the issue of power shortage had been addressed considerably and he believed that Lahore could become outage-free by 2024 till few more lines were established. He told media that ML Transmission Line had been completed with the cost of $1.6 and it would ensure addition of 4,000 MW of electricity to the system besides saving billions of rupees for Pakistan.

The Chinese Consulate staff and media persons also visited the largest garments unit of China in Pakistan 'Challenge' and were received by CEO Ms Karen and Deputy General Manager Sales Waleed Cheema. The guests visited different parts of the garments unit and were told that around 3,000 local people were associated with the factory as employees. It was also told that products of the outlet were also being exported to other countries.

Earlier, the media delegation and Chinese Consulate staff from Lahore visited the Sahiwal Coal-Fired Power Plant situated near Qadirabad, district Sahiwal and were briefed about the performance and functioning of the plant. The delegation visited different sections of the plant with a generating capacity of 1,320 MW.

Vice President of the plant Chen Wei while briefing media said that around 300 Chinese were associated with the power plant whereas 95% of the staff was recruited locally. He said that the plant was environment friendly and it was making a vital contribution in the energy generation. He also lauded the team working with him and expressed satisfaction with the security measures.