ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government has identified 13 priority sectors for top Chinese companies to invest in to ensure Pakistan’s export-oriented growth, a joint statement issued by both countries after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to China this week said. 

The Pakistani premier concluded his five-day “milestone” visit to China on Saturday, which included several high-profile meetings with top political and business leaders, after announcing plans to send 1,000 Pakistani students to a top Chinese agricultural facility for advanced training before his departure.
His engagements across various Chinese cities were aimed at upgrading the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), through which Beijing has pledged over $60 billion to the South Asian country. 
Sharif’s China visit took place at an important time for Islamabad, which has increasingly sought over the past couple of months to bolster its fragile economy by seeking foreign investments and enhanced regional connectivity with allies. During his time in Beijing, Sharif met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, who both reaffirmed their support for Pakistan’s efforts to become a regional hub of trade and connectivity.
“The Pakistani government identified 13 priority sectors for enhancing export-oriented industry and encouraged Chinese top companies in these sectors to make investments in Pakistan,” a joint statement issued by the foreign ministries of both countries said on Saturday. 
“The Chinese side welcomed Pakistan to expand exports to China.”
As per the joint statement, China reiterated its commitment to Pakistan’s industrialization and said it would encourage Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan’s Special Economic Zones. The two sides expressed their willingness to actively encourage Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan’s mining industry and strengthen the planning of mining industrial parks, including downstream mineral processing, the statement said. 
“The Chinese side expressed its willingness to strengthen cooperation with Pakistan in such areas as offshore oil and gas resources, and natural gas hydrate and Chinese companies to actively participate in the development of offshore oil and gas blocks of Pakistan,” the statement said. 
The statement said the two sides would carry out practical cooperation for modernizing agriculture in Pakistan in areas such as seed technology, crop cultivation, drip irrigation, prevention and control of animal and plant diseases. 
“Both countries agreed to strengthen development of the Pakistan-China digital information channel, and promote the integration of information and communication technology infrastructure and develop an innovation corridor through Pakistan,” the statement added. 
Pakistan and China also agreed to launch a new phase of energy cooperation by modernizing production, transmission and distribution systems to reduce line and other losses, the statement said.