Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi formally commenced activities to celebrate 70 years of establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and the People’s Republic of China on Tuesday.

The celebrations were commenced in a virtual ceremony that was simultaneously held in Islamabad and Beijing and was attended by high-ranking officials from both sides. Speaking on the occasion, Foreign Minister Qureshi underscored that "we pay tribute to the Chinese leadership which has done an incredible job in changing the lives and destiny of its people. We believe that President Xi Jinping’s leadership, at a momentous history, has greatly helped the Chinese nation achieve its national aspirations”.

FM Qureshi also added that “successive generations of leaders and people of both Pakistan and China made invaluable contributions to strengthen these ties.”

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also addressed the ceremony and underlined that the Pakistan-China friendship has a time-honored history and in the 7 decades the two countries have stood together in rain or shine and built an exceptional, iron-clad friendship.

Both leaders reiterated that CPEC is set to become a High-Quality Demonstration Project of BRI.

Taking to Twitter, FM Qureshi called the two countries 'Iron Borthers'.

"Honoured to join my brother, State Councilor and FM WangYi for the launch of PakChinaAt70 anniversary celebrations at a virtual ceremony held simultaneously in Islamabad & Beijing and to unveil our commemorative logo celebrating this historic milestone. Iron Brothers!"