Belt and Road Initiative to boost China-Pakistan cooperation

"Pakistan plays a pioneering role in the Belt and Road Initiative] given it has cooperated with China from the beginning, " said Chen.

Both sides signed the CPEC framework agreement in June 2013 when Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited China.

"Experts in Pakistan believe that the economic corridor will not only benefit the entire Pakistan in terms of improvement of economy and security, but also contribute to regional peace, stability and prosperity," said Furqan Rao, journalist with the Associated Press of Pakistan and visiting student of journalism in China's Renmin University.

If China-Pakistan cooperation goes well, it could be a role model in implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, Chen said. After all, "it is a long-term initiative and should be rolled out step by step."

Countries along the Belt and Road Initiative are facing bottlenecks in economic development, according to Chen. These countries need capital and technology to shore up development while China has experience, capital and technology to share.

"The historic Belt and Road Initiative provide an unprecedented opportunity for the global community to share in the fruits of China's economic development," said Amin, adding that the leadership wanted to share China's hard earned prosperity, particularly with the developing countries of South East Asia, South Asia, Middle East and Africa.