PM to visit China from June 4-8; will meet leadership, business community: FO

Liaquat Ali

Islamabad: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will undertake a five-day official visit to China from June 4-8, 2024, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. During the three-segment trip, the prime minister will visit the cities of Xi’an and Shenzhen, besides Beijing, the Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch announced at her weekly press briefing.

She said that Shehbaz Sharif would meet President Xi Jinping and hold delegation-level talks with Premier Li Qiang in Beijing. He will also hold meetings with Chairman of Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji and heads of key government departments. The spokesperson said that an important aspect of the prime minister’s visit will be meetings with corporate executives of leading Chinese companies dealing in oil and gas, energy, ICT, and emerging technologies. In Shenzhen, Prime Minister Shehbaz will address the China-Pakistan Business Forum with leading businesspersons, entrepreneurs, and investors from both countries.

He will also visit Economic and Agricultural Zones in China, she added. The prime minister’s visit to China manifests the iron-clad Pakistan-China friendship characterized by frequent high-level exchanges and dialogue. The two sides will undertake discussions to further strengthen the All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership; upgrade China-Pakistan Economic Corridor; advance trade and investment; enhance cooperation in security and defence, energy, space, science & technology, and education; and promote cultural cooperation and people-to-people contacts, thus setting the future trajectory of Pakistan-China friendship.