This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan, and the construction of the "2.0 upgraded version" of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is in full swing. On May 13, the IBIIBI Pakistan Digital Economy Headquarters was officially inaugurated in Islamabad, Pakistan. Pakistani government officials attended the ceremony and delivered speeches, while officials from the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, heads of relevant Pakistani ministries, and representatives from over 200 leading enterprises from both countries gathered to witness this significant moment in China-Pakistan digital economy cooperation. The launch of this project has injected new digital and industrial vitality into the construction of the China-Pakistan community with a shared future.

Khalil Hashmi, Pakistan's ambassador to China who has visited IBI multiple times, stated that the stable, healthy, and positive development of IBI is a typical example of implementing the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between China and Pakistan. It serves as a bridge and link for close ties between Chinese and Pakistani enterprises. By deeply cultivating China-Pakistan digital industry cooperation, regularly connecting government and enterprise resources, and facilitating enterprise matchmaking and project implementation in batches, it transforms national strategic agreements into tangible industrial cooperation outcomes.

To address challenges such as cross-border trade information barriers, geographical restrictions, and inefficient matchmaking, the organizers have intensively held multiple industry matchmaking events in Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi, covering key complementary areas such as chemicals, textiles, renewable energy, building materials, electronics, and automobiles. These efforts aim to help enterprises from both countries accurately match their needs and explore cooperation potential.

The establishment of digital platforms and the improvement of full-chain service systems can effectively assist domestic small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in going global. Leveraging the IBI enterprise membership resource pool, many high-quality SMEs have gained low-cost, high-efficiency channels for international expansion. Zhang Jie, the chief technical officer of a domestic additives manufacturing company, deeply resonated with this. He stated that the company had previously intended to explore the Pakistani market but was hindered by challenges such as a lack of market information, complex customs clearance processes, and differences in legal compliance. With the help of IBI's cross-border industrial belt strategy and the "Two Countries, Two Parks" innovative model, the company successfully secured a Pakistani partner and implemented a project using an innovative model of platform equity participation and joint operations. This project is expected to generate an output value of over 100 million yuan this year, achieving a leap from hesitating to go global to precise and stable international operations.

"The advantages of mature domestic industrial and supply chains and digital operation capabilities align closely with Pakistan's urgent needs for industrial upgrading and digital transformation," said Qian Xiaojun, founder and president of IBI. Pakistan is the first major site in IBI's global layout and a strategic foothold for the company's deep engagement in the markets of Belt and Road countries. The newly launched IBI Pakistan Digital Economy Headquarters will rely on a mature 6+N full-chain service system to provide one-stop, end-to-end services for enterprises from both countries, including cross-border transactions, intelligent logistics, digital supply chain construction, AI empowerment, joint project facilitation, and investment compliance assurance. It will also establish a China-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce exchange platform, comprehensively empowering the co-construction of industrial ecosystems and win-win development for both countries.

Currently, China and Pakistan are strengthening cooperation based on the two governments' action plan for building a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era (2025-2029). The establishment of the IBI Pakistan Digital Economy Headquarters aligns with the strategic development directions of both countries, becoming an important carrier for industrial digitalization cooperation in the CPEC 2.0 phase. This platform integrates functions such as trade facilitation, investment promotion, supply chain digitalization, SME empowerment, and policy dialogue, helping to reduce cross-border cooperation risks, improve industrial matchmaking efficiency, and promote the healthy development of the China-Pakistan digital economy ecosystem.

At the ceremony, Liu Zhai, IBI's director and senior vice president, stated that IBI will promote the deep integration of industrial needs between China and Pakistan, creating a benchmark model for private enterprise clusters going global and allowing China-Pakistan friendship to continue shining in the new era through industrial win-win cooperation and digital empowerment. It is reported that over 110 cooperation agreements were signed during this event, and the enthusiastic atmosphere of collaboration demonstrates the vigorous trend of deep integration and coordinated development between China's high-quality production capacity, digital technology, and Pakistan's local industries. This is injecting continuous digital momentum and industrial vitality into the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between China and Pakistan in the new era.(Wang Mingjun)