Gao Shiji, Director-General of the Research Institute of Resources and Environmental Policies of the Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC), met with Shafqat Kakakhe, former UN Assistant Secretary-General, former United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Deputy Executive Director, and Chairman of Pakistan's Sustainable Development Policy Center, on July 24, in Beijing, where they exchanged ideas on sustainable development and policy research on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Taking part in the meeting were a political counselor of Pakistan's Embassy to China, the UNEP representative in China, as well as DRC research fellows Cheng Huiqiang, Chen Jianpeng, and Wang Haiqin from the Research Institute of Resources and Environmental Policies.

The Sustainable Development Research Center of Pakistan, set up in 1992, is a policy research and consultation institute to respond to the Partisan Agenda 21. It is focused on economic and social development strategies under the backdrop of environment and resource restriction globally.