SHENZHEN, Sep 5 (APP)::Minister of State for Climate Change and Environment Coordination Dr. Shezra Mansab Ali Khan Kharal on Saturday underscored the vital role of media cooperation in strengthening Pakistan-China relations and advancing a path toward shared prosperity across the Asia-Pacific region. Addressing the opening ceremony of the Asia-Pacific Media Forum here, the minister said lasting partnerships were built not only on roads, ports and investment, but also on “shared …
Pakistan, China media cooperation vital to advancing shared prosperity in Asia-Pacific: Minister
SHENZHEN, Sep 5 (APP)::Minister of State for Climate Change and Environment Coordination Dr. Shezra Mansab Ali Khan Kharal on Saturday underscored the vital role of media cooperation in strengthening Pakistan-China relations and advancing a path toward shared prosperity across the Asia-Pacific region.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the Asia-Pacific Media Forum here, the minister said lasting partnerships were built not only on roads, ports and investment, but also on “shared stories, trust and mutual understanding.”
The forum is hosted by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, Xinhua News Agency and the People’s Government of Guangdong Province and organized by the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government.
Dr. Shezra appreciated Xinhua News Agency and the Secretariat of the Asia-Pacific Media Forum for bringing together ministers, policymakers, media leaders, journalists, experts, business representatives and think-tank communities from across the Asia-Pacific.
She said such forums provided an important platform for exchanging views, strengthening institutional and professional linkages, building mutual understanding and exploring new avenues of regional cooperation.
The minister conveyed the warm greetings of the Government of Pakistan to the Government of China, Xinhua leadership and the organizers of the forum, and particularly appreciated Xinhua Editor-in-Chief Lyv Yansong for his welcome and the agency’s support and hospitality.
She also highlighted Xinhua’s growing contribution to promoting understanding between Pakistan and China, noting that its Urdu Service had emerged as an important bridge between the two peoples by bringing Chinese developments, perspectives and stories closer to Pakistani audiences in their own language.
Dr. Shezra said the forum was being held at a significant moment, as 2026 marks the “China Year” of APEC as well as the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China.
She described the bilateral relationship as “rock solid” and noted that both countries proudly characterize it as an “All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership.”
Over the past 75 years, she said, Pakistan and China had supported each other through periods of difficulty and change, while today both sides were working toward an even closer Pakistan-China community with a shared future.
The minister said cooperation between the two countries had expanded well beyond traditional areas to encompass economy, connectivity, agriculture, minerals, science and technology, climate and green development, education and media.
She termed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) the flagship of bilateral cooperation and said the partnership was entering a new phase focused increasingly on industrial cooperation, connectivity, exports, technology transfer and employment generation.
“As we move into CPEC 2.0, our focus is shifting from infrastructure to industrialization—from roads and power plants to exports, technology transfer, and job creation,” she said.
Dr. Shezra stressed that the economic transformation under CPEC represented the kind of development story that deserved accurate, sustained and responsible media coverage.
She said Pakistan and China maintained a broad and expanding framework of media cooperation involving news agencies, broadcasters, film and documentary communities, as well as regular content-sharing and institutional exchanges.
Pakistan Television, she added, had been working on joint production ventures with Chinese counterparts, helping bring Chinese perspectives to Pakistani audiences and Pakistani perspectives to audiences in China.
The minister also highlighted Pakistan’s work toward establishing the China-Pakistan Information Corridor (CPIC), a platform intended to bring together media, think tanks, academia, youth, business and cultural stakeholders.
She said the initiative aimed to coordinate and integrate the efforts of Pakistani and Chinese media, think tanks, universities, youth and enterprises to facilitate structured information exchange, strengthen people-to-people connectivity and develop a coherent bilateral narrative.
Dr. Shezra said the initiative, which she is privileged to chair, had progressed from its formation toward active coordination, with increasing engagement among universities, media organizations and cultural institutions.
She described CPIC as a practical example of translating the forum’s theme—“Building a Path to Shared Prosperity for the Asia-Pacific Community: Media Consensus and Action”—into concrete action.
The minister called for greater regional cooperation, saying the path to shared prosperity in the Asia-Pacific should run through cooperation rather than coercion, open trade rather than walls, and dialogue rather than division.
“Pakistan remains firmly committed to multilateralism, and to a regional order in which every nation, large or small, has a stake in the outcome,” she said.
She urged media professionals participating in the forum to continue reporting on regional cooperation based on available evidence and in ways that promote informed public understanding of the opportunities facing the region.
In her concluding remarks, Dr. Shezra reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to strengthening media, cultural, economic and people-to-people ties with China and the wider Asia-Pacific community.
She expressed confidence that the media consensus developed at the forum would contribute to the broader regional agenda as China prepares to host the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Shenzhen in November.
“We look forward to working together, in the true spirit of this Forum’s theme, to turn today’s consensus into tomorrow’s shared and lasting prosperity for our region,” she concluded.
