Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang on Thursday, and the couple reaffirmed to work together in the second phase of the China-Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC).
Pakistan and China share a long -standing strategic association with ties that cover several sectors, including trade, energy, defense and infrastructure.
“Both parties also agreed to continue working closely in the next phase of the updated CPEC 2.0, with its five new runners,” said a statement from the Press Information Department (PID).
The prime minister highlighted the “significant contribution” of CPEC in the socioeconomic development of Pakistan in the last decade. He also emphasized the need for the early implementation of the Railway Project of Line 1 (ML-1), the realignment and operationalization of Karakoram Highway of the Gwadar port.
The request of PID said that the meeting was “warm and friendly”, with both leaders expressing their satisfaction with the positive path of Pak-China relations.
Prime Minister Shehbaz expressed his “deepest gratitude to Chinese leadership and the Nation for its unwavering support for territorial integrity, sovereignty and socioeconomic development of Pakistan.”
Remembering the “important consensus” achieved between Prime Minister Shehbaz and President Xi Jinping at his meeting on Tuesday, the statement pointed out that both prime ministers reaffirmed their “shared resolution to further strengthen the strategic and dressed cooperative association between Pakistan and China.”
“The signing of the Joint Action Plan 2024-2029 was considered an important step in this regard.”
The conversations at the delegation level were followed by a sumptuous lunch, organized by Prime Minister Li in honor of Prime Minister Shehbaz and his team, Pid added.
The current visit of the Prime Minister was expected to mark the formal launch of the second phase of the CPEC-II, which focuses on industrial cooperation.
Prime Minister Shehbaz, who is currently on a six -day visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held earlier this week, will also meet with the Minister of Information Technology and Chinese Industry Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Licheng, said the PID.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz is also expected to preside over a business meeting, which is the second edition of the Commercial Investment Conference of Pakistan-China,” he added.
The B2B conference will be held in Beijing today, with an focus on exploring new routes to strengthen commercial and investment relations between Pakistan and China.
The conference “will review the results of the first edition, chaired by Shehbaz Sharif in Shenzhen in June 2024, and describes future plans.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz had inaugurated the Pakistan-China Business Conference in June last year, in line with his vision of supporting, promoting and leading collaboration between entrepreneurs in the two countries.
Apart from the SCO Summit, held from August 31 to September 1, the two nations sought to explore new routes to expand their bilateral ties and cooperation.
The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, promised support for the local development capacity of Pakistan, expressing the preparation to build the China-Pakistan economic corridor and improve the Chinese-Pakistan free trade agreement, and increase cooperation in industries, agriculture and mining sectors.
At the meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz emphasized the “importance of CPEC as an emblematic project of the Belt and Road initiative of President XI’s road to help both countries build a community of Pakistan-China even stronger with a shared future.”
During his recent speech at the University of Tianjin, Prime Minister Shehbaz reiterated that all the efforts and initiatives of the current Pakistan government “are closely aligned with the vision and philosophy of Chinese President Xi Jinping.”
The Pakistani government has sent 1,000 graduates of Pakistan agriculture to China to learn modern techniques, while some 30,000 students from Pakistan have received education and training in China, the prime minister said.
In June, China reduced more than $ 3.4 billion in loans to Pakistan to help boost Islamabad currency reserves.
