Pakistan welcomes enhancement of investment for China-Pakistan Railway network

BEIJING (APP): Pakistan welcomes, the State Council, or China’s Cabinet decisions to increase investment in major infrastructure facilities construction projects in the two economic zones in Xinjiang, including the construction of the China-Kyrghyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and the China-Pakistan railway. “We welcome this decision by the State Council. It reflects the vision of the leadership of the two countries to enhance connectivity between China and Pakistan” said Ambassador Masood Khan here Monday. He said “a rail link between our two countries will shorten distances and create new transportation, trade and energy corridors.”

Khan pointed out that some ground work has already been done in this regard.

The State Council’s timely decision, he said gives a fresh impetus to establish closer rail link between two countries.

The enhanced transportation links between Pakistan and China will launch modern silk routes passing through the adjoining territories of China and Pakistan.

The decision for the setting up infrastructure including laying a railway network had been taken when the State Council recently unveiled guidelines giving more support to the construction of two economic development zones in the western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region bordering various countries including Pakistan.

According to guidelines released on the central government’s website, the State Council will adopt measures such as fiscal subsidies and tax preferences to facilitate the construction of the Kashgar and Korgas economic development zones located in western and southern Xinjiang.

The central government will work to develop the two zones into new avenues of economic growth in Xinjiang and grow the cities of Kashgar and Yining as regional hubs for China’s opening up to central, southern and western Asian countries as well as eastern Europe.

According to the guidelines, the central government will offer a certain amount of financial subsidies every year to the development of the two economic zones from 2011 to 2015, exempt qualified enterprises from business income taxes for five years, subsidize fixed-asset investment and offer government loans to qualified companies at discounted rates.

Qualified farm products processing enterprises and other labor-intensive companies will have discounts in paying their power consumption and transportation fees.