BEIJING: The groundbreaking ceremony of the Karachi Circular Railway project, a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), will be held by the end of this year, said Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Sunday.

`The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has given its approval to the project and we intend to start work on it by the end of December,` he said. Mr Shah, accompanied by the chief ministersof Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, attended Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese Prime Minister Li Kaqiang. They are in Beijing to participate in the two-day One Belt, One Road (OBOR) forum which opened on Sunday.

Discussing details of the project, the Sindh CM said his government had proposed two projects Karachi Circular Railway and KetiBandar project under the CPEC framework.

`We have completed the feasibility report for the circular railway in just three months and submitted it to the federal government for approval in March this year,` he added.

Responding to a question about Mr Sharif`s meetings with the Chinese leaders, Mr Shah said that by attending the OBOR forum together, the four chief ministers had presentedthe Chinese leadership with a united front. The Chinese president, he added, appreciated the fact that all of the country`s political forces had participated in the forum.

`The Sindh government stands shoulder to shoulder with the federal government on the Pak-China friendship and CPEC projects,` said the chief minister.

`CPEC is an important flagship programme under the One Belt, One Road initiative,` he said.-APP