ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) announced on Friday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will be traveling to China from June 4 to 8, upon an invitation extended by President Xi Jinping.
At her weekly press briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch disclosed that the prime minister’s itinerary includes visits to Xi’an and Shenzhen, in addition to Beijing, throughout the three-segment journey.
She said that Shehbaz Sharif would 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.
The spokesperson said that 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, Prime Minister Shehbaz 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, she added. The prime minister’s visit to China manifests the iron-clad Pakistan-China friendship characterized by frequent high-level exchanges and dialogue.
The two sides will undertake discussions to further strengthen the All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership; upgrade China-Pakistan Economic Corridor; advance trade and investment; enhance cooperation in security and defence, energy, space, science & technology, and education; and promote cultural cooperation and people-to-people contacts, thus setting the future trajectory of Pakistan-China friendship.
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 emphasized that China and Pakistan are steadfast strategic partners and enduring friends. She described the China-Pakistan friendship as unyielding, enduring through the challenges of time, as firm as a rock, and as steadfast as Mount Taishan.
