ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will begin a two-day visit to China next week and meet with President Xi Jinping during which they will review the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and exchange views on regional developments and global, the Foreign Office said. Wednesday.
Sharif will be among the first foreign leaders to visit China following the recently concluded historic 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in which President Xi won an unprecedented third five-year term.
Sharif’s trip to China comes at a time when cash-strapped Pakistan is scrambling to arrange billions of dollars for debt payments and closing the trade gap. Pakistan owes the Paris Club countries a combined sum of about $10.7 billion. The Paris Club is a group of officials from the main creditor countries whose role is to find coordinated and lasting solutions to the payment difficulties encountered by debtor countries.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan’s total non-Paris Club bilateral debt currently stands at around $27 billion, of which China’s debt is around $23 billion.
The Prime Minister will visit China on November 1 and 2. He will lead a high-level delegation, which will include Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the foreign ministry said in a press release.
Sharif is undertaking the visit at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang, he added.
The Prime Minister’s visit represents a continuation of the frequent leadership-level exchanges between Pakistan and China. Sharif will meet with President Xi and hold delegation-level talks with Premier Li, the statement said.
“The two sides will review the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and exchange views on regional and global developments,” he said.
It would be Sharif’s first visit to China since taking office in April 2022 and follows his meeting with Xi in Uzbekistan on September 16 on the sidelines of September 22. Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), according to the statement.
Xi, 69, was re-elected Sunday as general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CCP), becoming the first leader after party founder Mao Zedong to stay in power after a 10-year term just concluded a times-Congress in five years, strengthening its grip on the party.
All his predecessors retired after 10 years in power, following a well-established rule.
Sharif’s visit is also expected to push forward the vast bilateral cooperation agenda with the conclusion of a number of MoUs/agreements in various fields, and consolidate the momentum of cooperation on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. (CPEC).
Launched in 2013, CPEC is a corridor linking the Pakistani port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea to Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China, which emphasizes cooperation in fields of energy, transport and industry.
The $60 billion CPEC is part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a pet project of President Xi.
China has historically come to the rescue of Pakistan with economic, political and military assistance and the leaders of the two countries have often described their relationship as “all time”.
Sharif will be among the first foreign leaders to visit China following the recently concluded historic 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in which President Xi won an unprecedented third five-year term.
Sharif’s trip to China comes at a time when cash-strapped Pakistan is scrambling to arrange billions of dollars for debt payments and closing the trade gap. Pakistan owes the Paris Club countries a combined sum of about $10.7 billion. The Paris Club is a group of officials from the main creditor countries whose role is to find coordinated and lasting solutions to the payment difficulties encountered by debtor countries.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan’s total non-Paris Club bilateral debt currently stands at around $27 billion, of which China’s debt is around $23 billion.
The Prime Minister will visit China on November 1 and 2. He will lead a high-level delegation, which will include Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the foreign ministry said in a press release.
Sharif is undertaking the visit at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang, he added.
The Prime Minister’s visit represents a continuation of the frequent leadership-level exchanges between Pakistan and China. Sharif will meet with President Xi and hold delegation-level talks with Premier Li, the statement said.
“The two sides will review the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and exchange views on regional and global developments,” he said.
It would be Sharif’s first visit to China since taking office in April 2022 and follows his meeting with Xi in Uzbekistan on September 16 on the sidelines of September 22. Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), according to the statement.
Xi, 69, was re-elected Sunday as general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CCP), becoming the first leader after party founder Mao Zedong to stay in power after a 10-year term just concluded a times-Congress in five years, strengthening its grip on the party.
All his predecessors retired after 10 years in power, following a well-established rule.
Sharif’s visit is also expected to push forward the vast bilateral cooperation agenda with the conclusion of a number of MoUs/agreements in various fields, and consolidate the momentum of cooperation on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. (CPEC).
Launched in 2013, CPEC is a corridor linking the Pakistani port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea to Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China, which emphasizes cooperation in fields of energy, transport and industry.
The $60 billion CPEC is part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a pet project of President Xi.
China has historically come to the rescue of Pakistan with economic, political and military assistance and the leaders of the two countries have often described their relationship as “all time”.
