Islamabad, Sep. 5 : China has said that Pakistan saved Beijing from embarrassment by persuading certain Islamic countries not to take the issue of ethnic violence in Xinjiang before the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

Replying to a question while interacting with media persons at the Chinese embassy here, Chinese Ambassador Lou Zhaohui said: “Yes, Pakistan played its role in doing so.”

Zhaohui said Islamabad has been very helpful in assisting China counter the Xinjiang violence and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).

When asked about China’s relations with India and Pakistan, Zhaohui acknowledged that both Beijing and New Delhi were moving towards improving economic relations despite some political differences.

He said Pakistan and China have not fully exploited the depth of their political ties for economic gains.

Responding a question, Zhaohui said China was building a new embassy in Islamabad, but it was different from the expansion of the US embassy, as Beijing has no plans to station its security officials at the embassy.

Commenting on the massive economic assistance that China is providing to Pakistan, Zhaohui said China had provided 1.5 billion dollars to Islamabad since 1998, which was unprecedented in Chinese history.

“China is presently involved in 120 projects in Pakistan and over 1,000 Chinese engineers were working on these projects,” The Daily Times quoted Zhaohui, as saying.