The deepwater port that is a key to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has received its first large shipment of Chinese goods, validating the trade link between western China and the Arabian Sea.

Pakistan's prime minister and its army chief joined Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Sun Weidong on Sunday in welcoming the first bilateral joint trade convoy to reach the renovated port of Gwadar from China's Kashgar.

Sun said this is the first time such a trade convoy has passed through western Pakistan from the north to the south. The port in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan is key to the CPEC, which also encompasses roads and energy projects.