ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, said on Sunday construction of the Dasu Hydropower Project would resume “soon,” reiterating that Pakistan and China were committed to the timely completion of all projects being built in Pakistan with Chinese cooperation.

Nine Chinese workers employed at the Dasu project were killed in a bus attack in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday. The project is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $65 billion investment plan aiming to link western China to the southern Pakistani port of Gwadar.

Beijing had initially called it a bomb attack but backed away from the assertion after Pakistan stated it was an accident. Later Beijing said it would send a team to help investigate the matter jointly with Pakistan. A Chinese team visited the site of the attack on Saturday.

The attack led to speculation on social media that China had cancelled its contract to build the Dasu project.

“The Chinese construction company, China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) through its latest notification has declared its earlier notice, about contract termination of employment of Pakistani personnel working on Dasu Hydropower Project, null and void,” the foreign office spokesperson said. 

“Matters regarding security and execution of the project are being looked into, and the relevant authorities from Pakistan and China are in close contact on the same,” Chaudhri added. “The construction of the project will be resumed soon.”

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan to hold accountable the culprits for what he described as a "terrorist attack."

“The Chinese have taken it very seriously and sent a large contingent of trained investigators to find out the nature of the blast and reach the culprits," a government official closely monitoring the situation told Reuters on Saturday, adding that Pakistani police, counterterrorism officials and army were collectively involved in the investigation.

The blast in Dasu occurred when a bus came under attack while it was on its way to the under-construction dam site in the area. Thirteen people in total were killed.