Spotlight: Urdu version of Chinese president's book on governance launched in Pakistan

Jiang Jianguo (2nd, R), vice head of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, donates the Urdu version of Chinese President Xi Jinping's book "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (2nd, L) at the release ceremony at the Prime Minister Secretariat in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan on April 14, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua]

ISLAMABAD -- The Urdu language edition of the book "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" was launched here on Friday and the launching ceremony was attended by around 300 Pakistani and Chinese officials, academicians and researchers.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Jiang Jianguo, vice head of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, participated in the ceremony.

In his speech, Sharif said the rich content of the book is both "enlightening and inspiring" and Chinese President Xi Jinping shares his experiences and thoughts with wisdom, empathy and kindness.

"What has touched me most is that this book is not just about high politics, but also about moving stories of common people, their lives and inspirations about hard work and family values. In our times, the peaceful development of China has stimulated peaceful rise of the entire world," said Sharif.

He added that "this book is as much about our contemporary world as it is about China. This book is as much about Chinese dream as it is about the global dream to have peaceful, harmonious and connected world."

For his part, Jiang said in his speech that to create a community of shared future of mankind is an important idea in the book since it aims to build a world with lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness and inclusiveness as well as cleanliness and beauty, adding that this idea points out the direction of the development of the human society and a new method for international problems.

Jiang said Pakistan is China's good friend, good neighbor, good brother and the prioritized partner of the Belt and Road Initiative, adding that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the flagship project of the initiative and has created more than 10,000 jobs for the locals in Pakistan.

"We fully believe that after our joint cooperation and coordination, a more prosperous and better Pakistan will be presented in front of the world," said Jiang.

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Sun Weidong said the English version of Xi's book launched here in 2014 was warmly welcomed in the Pakistani society and the Urdu version will facilitate more Pakistani readers to understand Xi's philosophy of governance, adding that the completion of the Urdu version becomes a new symbol of friendly cooperation between China and Pakistan in the new era.

Mushahid Hussain, chairman of Parliamentary Committee on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, said Pakistan is grateful to China and Chinese President Xi for reposing faith and confidence in Pakistan and its people through the launch of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

"Because the CPEC today is a factor for national unity and progress and prosperity of the people of Pakistan, the provinces of Pakistan, particularly the less developed regions of Pakistan in the quest to build a better and more prosperous future," he added.

The book "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" contains 79 speeches, talks, interviews, notes and letters of the Chinese leader between November 2012 and June 2014. To date, it has been translated into 16 languages and has a distribution of over 6.2 million copies around the world.

The book helps readers around the world better understand China's development, domestic and foreign policies, and response to the concerns of the international community.

Akram Zaki, former Pakistan ambassador to China, told Xinhua that the Urdu version of the book will help more Pakistanis understand the new level of partnership of the two countries through the CPEC.

"Most of Pakistanis don't know English and if they want to know what glorious things Chinese leadership is doing, this book will provide to the people who are fond of reading. They all talk about CPEC and China-Pakistan friendship, now they will know the significance of China-Pakistan friendship," he said.

Farrukh Sohail Goindi, chief of the Jamhoori Publications in charge of the Urdu version's translation, said it is an honor and pleasure for him to translate a Chinese president's book in Urdu. "Through this book, we can understand the Chinese politics, the vision of Chinese president and the role of China-Pakistan friendship in the region and all over the world."

Goindi, who reads the book five to nine times in different periods in different stages, told Xinhua after the ceremony that Urdu is an opinion-making language in Pakistan and through Urdu publication, a commoner can easily understand the role of China, the leadership of China, and the economic and political roles of China.