Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is on a two-day visit to China, met with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping on Wednesday and focused on expanding cooperation in the China-China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The two leaders extensively discussed economic and investment cooperation, exchanged views on regional and global developments, and held talks to further strengthen the strategic partnership, Geo News reported.
Shehbaz is on an official visit to China with a high-level delegation at the invitation of Premier Li Keqiang. The main objective of the meeting was to revitalize the CPEC project. The meeting was held at the Great Hall of the People in China, during which the two leaders discussed broad-based economic and investment cooperation, Geo News reported.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both leaders discussed mutual cooperation in all areas of bilateral relations, especially #CPEC projects, and agreed to further strengthen the strategic partnership," the Pakistan Prime Minister's Office tweeted.
Before leaving for Beijing on November 1, the premier said he was "honored to be among the first leaders invited to the CCP's historic 20th National Congress." He said that CPEC's second phase
is expected to usher in a new era of socio-economic development that will improve the living standards of our people, according to Geo News. The Prime Minister also said that there is much to be learned from the Chinese economic miracle.
At a time when the world faces numerous challenges, Pakistan and China stand united as friends and partners," he said. A day before the visit, China warmly welcomed the premier's visit, saying it hopes to further promote high-level strategic cooperation between the two countries and achieve more fruitful results of Sino-Pakistani friendship to the benefit of the two cities.
China-Pakistan friendship has been nurtured from generation to generation, Geo News reported. "Our two countries have always supported each other on issues related to each other's most important interests and have stood together and helped each other in the face of major natural disasters," he said. CPEC is a 3,000 km infrastructure project route connecting the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China and the Port of Gwadar in Pakistan's western Balochistan province.
It is a bilateral project between Pakistan and China that aims to promote connectivity in Pakistan with a network of roads, railways and oil pipelines, accompanied by energy, industrial and other infrastructure development projects. However, insurgent groups in Balochistan oppose CPEC as it threatens the region's ethnic divide. This poses a threat to CPEC as the port of Gwadar in Balochistan is key to the corridor's success.
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