If all the countries concerned followed up on this in earnest, 'the Belt and Road' initiative will serve their economic development, generate employment, help to alleviate poverty and promote social progress, he added.

Referring to building a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Khalid said work is continuing on several infrastructure, energy and industrial development projects.

The corridor will involve energy projects, transportation infrastructure, industrial parks, agriculture, poverty alleviation and cultural exchanges.

Sun Weidong, China's ambassador to Pakistan, said in a speech last month that the corridor has moved from the planning stage to implementation.

China and Pakistan have set up a Joint Cooperation Committee to constantly review progress on the corridor, and the committee's fourth session was held recently.

Khalid said: "The corridor has the potential to integrate four engines for global growth - China, South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. In this way, it can directly benefit 3 billion people."

As a vital bridge connecting the "Belt and Road" and also a pioneering project within this initiative, the corridor is being conceived as a linchpin for the two countries' plans to deepen their economic cooperation, he added.

Pakistan has applied to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a founding member.

Asked about the surge in the number of applicants seeking to join the bank in the past month, Khalid said that with developing countries "starving" for financing to implement infrastructure development, and bank's formation is "propitious, to say the least".

"I view it as a future-oriented initiative of great significance. Growing interest in the AIIB, particularly from leading European economies, is evidence of this point," he said.

Pakistan will work with China to "accelerate preparations for the bank to promote regional infrastructure construction and economic development", he added.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn