China-Pakistan relations ‘unbreakable’: PM Shahbaz Sharif leaves for Beijing

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday asserted that Pakistan’s all-weather ties with China are “unbreakable” as he arrived on a five-day official visit to Beijing to further strengthen bilateral ties and launch the second phase of the multi-billion dollar CPEC projects in his country.

Sharif will be in China from June 4 to 8 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The 72-year-old leader has begun his first visit to China after assuming office as prime minister for a second term after his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party-led coalition government came to power in March.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said in Beijing last week that during his visit Sharif will hold talks with Chinese President Xi and “jointly draw up a blueprint” for the development of China-Pakistan relations.

During Sharif’s visit, the two countries are expected to launch the second phase of the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The CPEC, linking Gwadar port in Pakistan’s Balochistan to China’s Xinjiang province, is a flagship project of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI is seen as China’s attempt to expand its influence abroad through infrastructure projects funded by Chinese investment around the world.

In an interview to Chinese media ahead of his visit, Sharif said the two countries are “iron brothers” and their friendship is unbreakable.

“We are two strong brothers, our friendship is unbreakable and our hearts beat together,” Sharif was quoted as saying by China’s state-run news agency Xinhua.

“Despite the warm weather, it still does not match the warmth of our hearts,” the Prime Minister said.

He said China has stood by Pakistan during difficult times and Islamabad considers Beijing as one of its “most trusted friends” across the world.

Sharif said during his first visit to China nearly 40 years ago, he observed that though the country was underdeveloped, it was dedicated to meeting the basic needs of its people and was rapidly developing modern science and technology.

He said, “Today China has become a giant country through vision, hard work and serious and unremitting efforts.”

“All doubts about the Chinese model are disproved by the evidence of history,” he said.

He said Pakistan is willing to promote economic cooperation with China, learn from Beijing’s advanced experience in information technology and artificial intelligence, consolidate the strong friendship between the two countries and achieve rapid development.

He said Pakistan is ready to learn from China’s governance experience, advance reforms and anti-corruption measures, create favourable conditions for Chinese investors and provide policy support to the investors, while also focusing on areas that can benefit the people of both countries to modernise the economy.

Sharif said China under the leadership of Xi Jinping has lifted millions of its people out of poverty. He said one of the agendas of his visit is to learn from the Chinese model on how to reduce poverty in Pakistan and help people stand on their own feet.

Pakistan’s cash-strapped economy is facing a severe crisis and it has formally requested between $6 and $8 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for another bailout package, with the potential for a boost through climate financing.

On Monday, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zhidong said that under the guidance of Sharif and Xi and the strong support of the people of both countries, Sharif’s visit to China will be a full success and will mark a milestone in the development of China-Pakistan relations.

Highlighting various components of the visit, he said the Prime Minister will meet and hold talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji.

The two leaders will have in-depth discussions on China-Pakistan relations and issues of mutual interests and jointly draw up a blueprint for the development of bilateral ties, Pakistan’s official news agency Associated Press quoted Jiang as saying.

He said, “China is ready to work with Pakistan through this visit to make further progress in our all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and take new steps in building an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.”

Regarding CPEC, Jiang said the landmark Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project has brought a total of US$25.4 billion in direct investment, 236,000 jobs, 510km of highways, over 8,000MW of power and 886km of core transmission network, providing a strong impetus to Pakistan’s economic and social development.

Sharif’s visit is aimed at enhancing cooperation under the CPEC project as the two all-weather allies are keen to launch its second phase.

He will hold discussions with top Chinese officials to further advance CPEC and boost trade and investment.

The Prime Minister said that through this visit Pakistan hopes to promote interaction between enterprises of the two countries, utilize Special Economic Zones and Pakistan’s labour advantages to set up joint ventures, facilitate transfer of industries and technologies, and enhance its manufacturing output to advance CPEC.

According to the report, he said that the proposed BRI will benefit the people of the participating countries, promote cooperation and lead the world towards shared prosperity and a better future.

CPEC was launched a decade ago and several energy and infrastructure projects have already been completed.

India strongly opposes the CPEC, which will link China’s Xinjiang and Pakistan’s Gwadar port, as it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The Prime Minister will meet corporate executives from leading Chinese companies in the fields of oil and gas, energy, ICT (information and communication technology) and emerging technologies to further economic ties between the two countries, the report said.

It said that talks will be held to enhance cooperation in the areas of security and defence, energy, space, science and technology and education.

Sharif will address the China-Pakistan Business Forum in Shenzhen, which will be attended by leading businessmen, entrepreneurs and investors from both countries. Apart from this, he will also visit economic and agricultural zones in China.

Sharif’s visit to Beijing, which is always the first stop for Pakistani leaders after assuming power, comes at a time when Pakistan is facing a severe economic crisis and its foreign exchange reserves have remained at a low level. China has been providing financial assistance to Pakistan by providing loans from time to time to maintain the necessary foreign exchange reserves to maintain the balance of payments.