PM Shehbaz Sharif Departs for China on Four-Day Official Visit to Boost Strategic Ties

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif departed Pakistan on Saturday for a four-day official visit to China, with the trip focused on deepening bilateral strategic cooperation and broadening economic engagement between the two long-standing allies.

In the first phase of his visit, the prime minister flew to Hangzhou, accompanied by a high-level delegation that included Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja, and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi.

The Foreign Office described the visit as carrying special significance, as it coincides with the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China. Islamabad said the visit would serve as an opportunity to reaffirm the enduring strength of the Pakistan-China All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership and advance the shared vision of building an even closer bilateral community with a shared future.

During his time in Hangzhou, PM Shehbaz is scheduled to meet the Party Secretary of Zhejiang Province and will chair the Pakistan-China Business-to-Business Investment Conference, which will cover three key sectors: Information Technology and Telecom, Battery Energy Storage Systems, and Agriculture. The prime minister will also witness the formal exchange of agreements and memoranda of understanding between companies from both nations, and is expected to meet with the chief executives of major Chinese corporations. A visit to the headquarters of Alibaba Group is also on the agenda, where cooperation memorandums are set to be signed.

In the second and final phase of the visit, PM Shehbaz will travel to Beijing for high-level meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. The two sides are expected to conduct a comprehensive review of bilateral cooperation across political, economic, and strategic dimensions, with particular emphasis on the high-quality development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, trade and investment expansion, industrial collaboration, agricultural modernization, information technology, science and technology, and people-to-people exchanges.

The Foreign Office expressed confidence that the visit would further deepen political trust, strengthen strategic coordination, expand practical cooperation, and consolidate the decades-long friendship between the two countries.