PM Shehbaz Sharif leaves on five-day official visit to China

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday departed for China on a five-day official visit at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

During three-segment trip, the Prime Minister will visit cities of Xi’an and Shenzhen, besides Beijing.

Shehbaz Sharif will meet President Xi Jinping and hold delegation-level talks with Premier Li Qiang in Beijing.

He will also hold meetings with Chairman of Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji and heads of key government departments.

An important aspect of the Prime Minister’s visit will be meetings with corporate executives of leading Chinese companies dealing in oil and gas, energy, ICT, and emerging technologies.

In Shenzhen, PM Shehbaz Sharif will address the China-Pakistan Business Forum with leading businesspersons, entrepreneurs, and investors from both countries.

He will also visit Economic and Agricultural Zones in China.

The two sides will undertake discussions to further upgrade China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and advance trade and investment.

The talks will be held to enhance cooperation in security and defence, energy, space, science and technology, and education sectors.

The Chinese foreign ministry on Friday said China looks forward to the visit of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, taking it as an “opportunity to promote greater joint development”.

Spokesperson Mao Ning at her regular briefing said the official visit would boost the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic partnership and build a closer community of destiny in the new era.

Mao Ning pointed out that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners and “iron-clad” friends. China-Pakistan friendship has been tested by the winds and clouds of the times, and is as solid as a rock and as stable as Mount Taishan, she added.