Gilani accepts honorary chairmanship of Pak-China governance research centre

Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani has accepted the honorary chairmanship of the Pak-China Research Centre for Party and State Governance, taking the role at the centre's inauguration ceremony in Islamabad. UrduPoint reported the acceptance and Minute Mirror carried his remarks at the event.

Gilani said the friendship between Pakistan and China rests on mutual respect, trust and a shared commitment to closer cooperation. He pointed to growing links between the two countries' parliaments and institutions, and said stronger engagement at those levels was needed to deepen the relationship.

He praised China's governance model and institutional development, saying Pakistan could draw guidance from it. He singled out Chinese progress in poverty reduction, rural development and digital governance, and said Pakistan could adapt development policies that fit its own economic and governance difficulties, according to Minute Mirror.

On the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Gilani said its second phase, referred to as CPEC 2.0, could open new avenues for cooperation in agriculture, industrial development, information technology and regional connectivity.

Employment generation and skills development should remain priorities in the next stage of economic cooperation, he said, arguing that attention to those areas would turn bilateral initiatives into practical benefits for people.

Minute Mirror reported that the acceptance was presented as a reaffirmation of Pakistan's commitment to strengthening cooperation with China through parliamentary and institutional ties.

The centre is expected to provide a platform for research, dialogue and the exchange of experiences on party and state governance. Its establishment was described as part of wider efforts to build institutional cooperation between Islamabad and Beijing.