BEIJING, April 23 (INP): Upcoming visit of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan to China will boost Sino-Pak cooperative partnership under the framework of CPEC, said a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang here on Tuesday.

China, he said welcomes Imran Khan's participation in the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in China. Khan will be 'Guest of Honour' and a key-note speaker at the inaugural session on Thursday.

The CPEC is an important flagship project of the Belt and Road cooperation.

With the joint efforts of our two countries, the CPEC has yielded a lot of concrete outcomes and delivered tangible benefits to our peoples.

We have every confidence that China and Pakistan working together will make more stable and sustained progress under the CPEC and more benefits will be felt by the two peoples.

The cooperation under the CPEC, exemplary as it is, provides valuable experience for us in the Belt and Road cooperation with other countries and regions, the spokesperson added.

Responding to a question about the US’s decision to stop issuing sanctions waivers to any country importing oil from Iran, the spokesperson said, China firmly opposes the unilateral sanctions and so-called "long-arm jurisdictions" imposed by the US.

The normal energy cooperation under the international law between Iran and other members of the international community, China included, is legitimate and lawful; thus it must be respected and protected.

The spokesperson urged the US to earnestly respect China's interests and concerns, and refrain from taking wrong moves that will undermine our interests.

We will continue to uphold the lawful and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese businesses.

“What the US did will inevitably add more instabilities in the Middle East and the global energy market. We urge the US to act in a responsible manner and play a constructive role instead of doing the opposite, he added.