The 8th meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, also known as the CPEC, has kicked off in Beijing. Amid some concerns over expanding the corridor, our reporter Feng Yilei asked Pakistan's Minister of Planning, Development and Reform -- Khusro Bakhtiar-- about the future of the joint effort.

KHUSRO BAKHTIAR PAKISTANI MINISTER OF PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT & REFORM "The early harvest projects under CPEC are going as per timelines. And we have seen considerable success. Under the CPEC, one of the biggest dividends that comes to Pakistan is the energy demand of Pakistan is fulfilled. And there are a lot of projects in the pipeline under the early harvest in the energy sector, which will also be taken up in coming years. Similarly, it was also decided between the leadership that the scope of the CPEC needs to be broadened.

In the JCC, we have already expanded the scope of CPEC by adding another dimension of social economic development joint working group that will come a long way in addressing the social economic development needs of people of Pakistan, especially in the areas which are marginally less developed."

FENG YILEI CGTN "We know that China and Pakistan have agreed to open up the CPEC to other countries. What targets and mechanisms for third-party participation have been set to achieve mutual benefit?"

KHUSRO BAKHTIAR PAKISTANI MINISTER OF PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT & REFORM "CPEC being the major flagship project of BRI, we agree that goes with bilateral framework but it offers huge opportunities for third country participation. In that sense, there is a couple of projects which can attract trilateral or multilateral investments which in different countries or two or three different parties and it becomes a shared benefits for other countries to come and seek out of the CPEC."

FENG YILEI CGTN "What are the main challenges faced by the CPEC? How will both sides respond to 'debt trap' and other criticisms, and properly address issues like transparency and security?"

KHUSRO BAKHTIAR PAKISTANI MINISTER OF PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT & REFORM "Because of the geopolitical situation and the politics at play, you will find a lot of detractors of BRI and CPEC. You hear such voices finding its way into different media main streams. It's an investment in the much-needed infrastructure upgradation. Those are the foundation on which a country of 200 million people and an economy which can grow and achieve the potential which can only be harnessed through such an investment. And the portion of government-to-government loan on the CPEC is six billion, which has gone into infrastructure development.

Today Pakistan's total external debt is around 94-95 billion. So that's a very small portion of our external debt liabilities. So in policy making among the political parties in Pakistan, in terms of academics in terms of the business community, there's a broad base consensus that CPEC is a true instrument if well-planned and executed. In recent past the cowardly attempt on the consulate on Karachi. It was done by the same forces, which don't want to see the progress of BRI and CPEC but are law enforcement agencies foiling that. The very next day, I went to the Chinese embassy and me and the Chinese ambassador further resolved that such cowardly attempts only strengthen our resolve to take CPEC to further heights."