Pakistan expects new Chinese envoy to multiply business, boost CPEC

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan expects the incoming Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong to multiply the existing bilateral trade and business ties and further boost the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), officials said.

Officials told Gwadar Pro on Monday that Pakistan is optimistic that the new envoy will set new goals as he takes charge in Islamabad.“Ambassador Yao Jing (who completed his tenure in Pakistan) played a wonderful role and his term is a success from all angles. Now Ambassador Nong Rong is coming and we are expecting him to focus on trade, business, and CPEC,” said a close aide of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Nong Rong, Head of Ethnic Affairs Commission of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has been nominated as the new envoy. Nong Rong once worked in the office of the Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Department, the ASEAN countries, and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan Divisions of the Department of Commerce of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

He served as Assistant Secretary-General of the Secretariat of the China-ASEAN Expo.Nong Rong is an expert in trade and commerce. One of his main aims will be to promote the CPEC under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Officials from the Chinese embassy in Islamabad told Gwadar Pro that the new envoy was expected to arrive in October. “It depends on flights. He is likely to take charge in the upcoming month (October).”

Another Pakistani government official said Pakistanis took every Chinese ambassador as a brother, not a diplomat. “Nong Rong will be treated as our brother as was Yao Jing.