BEIJING: China today rejected as "totally false" a media report about Pakistan approaching it for more loans to keep President Xi Jinping's ambitious multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project alive.
The Financial Times recently reported that Pakistan has asked China to give it more loans to continue the project.
"These reports are totally false," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, responding to a question about the report.
In fact, Pakistan's Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar has made a clarification on this matter stressing that his country will continue with the CPEC construction, Hua added.
The USD 50 billion CPEC, a flagship project of President Xi's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), will connect China's Muslim-majority Xinjiang region with Pakistan's Gwadar port giving it access to the Arabian Sea.
"We noted the shortage of foreign reserves in Pakistan and we believe Pakistan will try to maintain steady economic development against all odds," Hua said when asked about the media report that Pakistan is facing a ballooning debt and shortage of foreign reserves.
"In recent times, the CPEC has played a positive role in helping in Pakistan achieving high economic development supported by the government and people. We believe this will not be interrupted by other factors," the spokesperson added.