PM Shehbaz Sharif departs for China on five-day visit to strengthen bilateral ties

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif set off on Tuesday for a five-day official visit to Beijing China, starting from June 4 to June 8. The premier was invited by China's Prime Minister Li Qiang, marking his first visit since assuming office this year. Discussions with Chinese leaders are expected during the meeting, including President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Li Qiang, and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji to jointly outline a framework for enhancing bilateral ties. The premier is also scheduled to speak at the Business-to-Business Forum, where representatives from 79 Pakistani companies will meet with Chinese counterparts. The visit aims to advance the evergreen strategic cooperative partnership between the two nations and to take new steps in a shared future. Read Pakistan eyes loans, infra deals during PM's China visit In all those years, both countries have engaged in high-level exchanges, productive cooperation on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and maintained strong coordination on international and regional matters. Under the second phase of CPEC, Pakistan and China will implement the key consensus reached by their leaders, which includes strengthening development strategies and policy coordination. They will also accelerate progress on mega projects such as the "ML-1" upgrade, Gwadar Port, and the Karakoram Highway Phase II renovation. The BRI project has brought a total of $25.4 billion in direct investment, 236,000 jobs, 510 kilometers of highways, over 8,000 megawatts of electricity, and an 886-kilometer core transmission network, that has strengthened Pakistan's economic and social development. Earlier, the Chinese envoy highlighted that as a landmark project of the Belt and Road international cooperation, batch after batch of schemes had been launched, completed as well, and put into operation under the framework of CPEC. He continued that these schemes had resulted in $25.4 billion in direct investment, 236,000 jobs, 510 kilometers of highway, more than 8,000 MW of electricity, and 886 kilometers of core power transmission network. The visit seeks to bolster collaboration in industry, agriculture, mining, energy, and IT while promoting trade liberalization. Shehbaz Sharif to hold B2B meetings in China Last week, the PM presided over a meeting to discuss the development of thorough plans to conduct productive business-to-business meetings between the two countries. He directed the relevant authorities to create strategies aimed at attracting Chinese industries to establish their operations in Pakistan, assuring them of the government's complete support and facilitation. The PM urged Pakistan’s ambassador to China to provide comprehensive assistance to the Pakistani business delegation during their visit.    

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