On March 22, 2023, Pakistani Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif said at the commissioning ceremony of the coal-electricity integration project of Block 1 of the Thar Coalfield held in the Thar region of southern Pakistan's Sindh Province that the results of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project are shining brightly in Pakistan.

Shabaz expressed his heartfelt thanks to China for its strong support for the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project. He said that the power generated by the power station of the project will be transmitted to all parts of Pakistan, injecting power into Pakistan's economic development and bringing prosperity.

In his speech, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal highly appreciated the high-level practical cooperation between Pakistan and China, saying that the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is of great significance to boosting Pakistan's industrialization.

Pang Chunxue, charge d'affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, said that 2023 is not only the 10th anniversary of the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, but also the 10th anniversary of the launch of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, an important pilot project of the Belt and Road Initiative. The corridor has laid a good foundation for Pakistan's industrialization, modernization and interconnection.

Meng Donghai, the person in charge of the coal-electricity integration project, told reporters that the successful commissioning of the project will help reduce Pakistan's electricity bills, provide more stable power, and relieve Pakistan's urgent need for energy imports.

The coal-electricity integration project in Block 1 of Thar Coalfield is a key energy cooperation project under the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. It is independently developed, constructed and operated by Shanghai Electric Group. The project started construction in 2019, including an open-pit coal mine with an annual output of 7.8 million tons of lignite and a coal-fired power station with two 660-megawatt high-parameter supercritical thermal power generating units.Editor / He Yurong