The coastal city of Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, signed an agreement to establish sister-city relations with Pakistan's port city Gwadar on April 23 in accordance with the central government's Belt and Road Initiative.

Liu Mingjun, deputy mayor of Qingdao led a delegation to Gwadar on April 23 and had in-depth talks with Khalid Parwaz, Pakistan's vice minister of ports and shipping, on the issue.

The coastal city of Qingdao signs a sister-city agreement with Pakistan's port city of Gwadar on April 23. [Photo/qdbofcom.gov.cn]

The move is designed to boost the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which connects Kashgar in China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region to Pakistan's Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea, and to establish closer links between two pivotal port cities, Qingdao and Gwadar, along the "Belt and Road".

Attending the signing ceremony were Chunyu Xianli, vice director of Qingdao's commerce bureau and some executives of Qingdao Port International Co and Zhongqi Holding Group.

Edited by Mevlut Katik