ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Pakistan and China have launched the China-Pakistan Information Corridor (CPIC), a joint media, business, think-tank and culture initiative that Information Minister Ataullah Tarar says is meant to counter misleading narratives about the two countries and bring their people closer.
The corridor was unveiled at a ceremony in Islamabad on Tuesday attended by Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning and Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong. Tarar called it the next phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). CPEC, he said, had built power plants, motorways and Gwadar port, and CPIC would now connect how the two peoples understand each other.
He described the initiative as the “voice” of CPEC and a “digital corridor”, crediting the vision of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the support of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Four pillars
Tarar set out four strands of work. The first is media. A news exchange working group of 18 Pakistani and Chinese organisations, including Xinhua, China Media Group and People’s Daily, will share content, and a joint fact-check mechanism will be set up to answer misleading narratives.
The second is business. CPIC will open its first regional office in Karachi, launch a trade portal tracking bilateral trade, investment and foreign direct investment, and produce a podcast on Chinese entrepreneurs working in Pakistan and Pakistani entrepreneurs in China.
The third pillar, think tanks, will be led by the Pakistan-China Institute and cover joint dialogues, research and publications. The fourth, culture and tourism, includes work on a tourism corridor linking Xinjiang with Gilgit-Baltistan.
Youth ambassadors
Tarar said the first cohort of CPEC Youth Ambassadors had been nominated from 13 universities across Pakistan, noting that more than 68 per cent of the country’s population is under 30. He invited Chinese media houses, think tanks, universities and businesses to join each pillar.
Mao Ning said both countries faced misinformation and fake news, and that CPIC’s four pillars could help tell the story of their cooperation.
The launch came a day after Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met Ambassador Jiang in Islamabad to review progress on CPEC, including trade, investment, connectivity, agricultural modernisation and people-to-people exchanges.
