Shehbaz Sharif visits China to boost ties and CPEC cooperation

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan arrived in China on Saturday for a four-day official visit aimed at strengthening strategic and economic ties between the two nations. The trip coincides with celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China.

Sharif’s delegation includes senior officials such as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar. The visit’s first leg is in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, where the prime minister is scheduled to meet with provincial leaders and chair a business-to-business investment conference. The forum will focus on cooperation in information technology, telecommunications, battery energy storage systems, and agriculture. Sharif is also expected to witness the exchange of agreements and memorandums of understanding between companies and visit the headquarters of Alibaba Group.

The prime minister will then travel to Beijing for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. These discussions are set to review bilateral cooperation across political, economic, and strategic domains, with a...