China and Pakistan must continue to firmly support each other, foster stronger synergy between their development strategies, and harness the role of the Joint Cooperation Committee of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to ensure the smooth construction and operation of major projects, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday.

It is important for China and Pakistan to expand cooperation in areas such as industry, agriculture, science, technology and social welfare to create new impetus for the development of the CPEC, President Xi stressed during his meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif at the Forumlar Majmuasi Complex in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.