ISLAMABAD: President Xi Jinping promised to help Pakistan tap its potential to be a regional hub of trade and connectivity in a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Beijing on Friday in which he also reiterated full support to Pakistan’s security and territorial integrity.
The Pakistani prime minister arrived on a five-day visit to China this week in an effort to upgrade the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), through which Beijing has pledged over $60 billion in the South Asian country.
China and Pakistan enjoy a close strategic partnership, with the latter’s location on the Arabian Sea providing Beijing an overland route toward the Gulf of Aden and onto the Suez Canal, and enabling Chinese ships to avoid the potential chokepoint of the Malacca Strait.
“Had the honor of meeting President Xi Jinping at the iconic Great Hall of People in Beijing,” the prime minister said in a social media post after the meeting. “We discussed various dimensions of the multi-faceted Pakistan-China relationship and reaffirmed our longstanding and steadfast friendship, All-Weather Strategic cooperation, economic and trade ties, and CPEC.”
Sharif said it was mutually decided to enhance economic cooperation between both states through timely completion of the ongoing CPEC initiatives, adding the joint cooperation would enter its next phase with five new corridors.
“I underscored that Pakistan would continue to work with China to promote regional connectivity and economic development and to make Gwadar a connectivity hub for the socio-economic development of Pakistan,” he continued. “President Xi reassured that China would continue supporting Pakistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and development, and would continue supporting us in harnessing our geo-economic potential as a hub of regional trade and economics.”
According to the Chinese state media, Xi also highlighted the two countries’ “broad development prospects” during the conversation.
The prime minister said he also extended an invitation to the Chinese president to visit Pakistan at his earliest convenience.
Pakistan is currently striving to find a way out of a prolonged economic turmoil that has forced it to seek financial assistance from international lending agencies and friendly nations.
The meeting between the two leaders was held just days before Pakistan is scheduled to present its annual budget and apply for a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.
Earlier in the day, Sharif met China’s Premier Li Qiang to discuss CPEC’s development and timely completion of all ongoing projects.
“The two leaders expressed continued commitment and support for the high-quality development of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and timely completion of all ongoing projects,” the foreign office said in a statement.
“The two sides also expressed their firm commitment to protect CPEC from its detractors and adversaries.”
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (left) and Chinese Premier Li Qiang pose for a picture in Beijing, China, on June 7, 2024. (Government of Pakistan)
Since its initiation in 2013, CPEC has seen tens of billions of dollars funneled into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan. But the undertaking has been hit by Islamabad struggling to keep up its financial obligations as well as attacks on Chinese targets by militants.
Most recently, five Chinese engineers, who were working on a dam in northwest Pakistan, were killed in a suicide bombing on March 26. It followed a March 20 attack on a strategic port used by China in the southwestern province of Balochistan, where Beijing has poured billions of dollars into infrastructure projects. The attack was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most prominent of several separatist groups in Balochistan.
In the meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan’s unflinching resolve to ensure the safety and security of Chinese personnel and projects in Pakistan.
“The two sides agreed to maintain high-level exchanges, including strengthening institutional linkages at all tiers and in all spheres of bilateral cooperation,” the statement read.
“Pakistan and China will also continue to consult closely on issues of regional and global significance and multilateral fora, especially during the two-year tenure of Pakistan as a non-permanent member of UN Security Council.”
The delegation-level talks were followed by a ceremony, where 23 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and agreements were signed on deepening cooperation between the two countries in transport, infrastructure, industry, energy, agriculture, media, health, water, socio-economic development and other areas of mutual interest.
Since his arrival in China, the prime minister has held several meetings with Chinese investors and businesspersons to discuss and explore investment opportunities in Pakistan.
Toward the end of the day, he arrived in the Chinese city of Xian to explore the possibility of agricultural cooperation.
“Landed in Xian a short while ago,” he announced in an X post. “Looking forward to learning about China’s agricultural modernization and innovation from the world class facilities of this great city. Keen to explore new avenues of cooperation and further deepen our linkages in agriculture to enhance Pakistan’s food productivity and quality.”
- With input from Reuters
