President Asif Ali Zardari will leave on Tuesday on a six day official visit to China during which he will hold talks with the top Chinese leadership including President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and meet with provincial political leaders and chiefs of corporate sector.
Briefing journalists, spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that the forthcoming visit will be the fifth undertaken by the President since he became the President demonstrating the importance Pakistan attaches to further bolster strategic ties with China through enhanced people to people contacts.
Besides holding talks with the President and Prime Minister of China the President will also meet Chairman of the Chinese Peoples Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Jia Qinglin, receive the Chinese Ministers for Water Resources and Agriculture and visit Tsinghuan University to inaugurate an exhibition on Mohenjodaro Gandhara civilisation, he said.
The Presidential entourage will leave Islamabad Sunday night a day ahead of the Presidential visit. Members of the entourage include Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Petroleum Minister Naveed Qamar, Minister of State for Water Resources Kamal Majidullah, Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, Secretary General to President Salman Farooqui, Secretary Foreign Affairs Salman Bashir, Ambassador at large Khalil Ahmad Khan, Chairman Wapda Shakil Durrani, Chairman NHA Chaudhry Altaf Ahmad, Additional Secretary Foreign Office Khalid Masood and spokesperson.
During the six-day visit the President will also address the Pakistan-China Economic Co-operation Forum and hold discussions with corporate leaders of energy, construction, mining, petroleum, engineering, shipping, finance and banking sectors and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
The President will visit side by side pavilions of Pakistan and China at Shanghai Expo showcasing economic and industrial progress of the two countries described by the President as a 'demonstration of the soft power of China', the spokesperson said.
A separate meeting with corporate leaders of energy sector has also been lined up to further push Pakistan's quest for alternate energy particularly wind and solar energy to meet its growing power demands. President will also have media interactions both in Beijing and Shanghai with about ten different print and electronic media outlets and also visit Mohenjodaro exhibition, Farhatullah Babar said.
In the same context a number of business and corporate leaders including the Presidents of EXIM Bank, Peoples Bank of China, China Development Bank, China Northern Railways Corporation, China Three Gorges Corporation, Sinohydro, Sinopec and Politechnologies among others will also call on the President.
The President's visit is aimed at boosting the multi dimensional ties with particular emphasis on reviewing progress in the scores of new developmental initiatives undertaken during the last two years as well as inviting Chinese entrepreneurs to bolster further their investment in Pakistan.
Farhatullah Babar said that the President is keen that the multifaceted strong Pakistan-China relations already supported by the top leadership of the two countries should also percolate down to the level of ordinary people in both the countries.
Just on Saturday China demonstrated yet again strong support by categorical reiteration that it will go ahead with installation of two new nuclear reactors in Pakistan as the agreement 'goes along well with the international non proliferation obligations of China and Pakistan', the spokesperson said. The agreement was signed during President Zardari's China visit last year and reiterated on the eve of President Zardari's visit beginning Tuesday, he said.
President Zardari's frequent visits to China is in line with the President's announcement made during his first visit to China in October 2008 that he will undertake brief visits to China to boost the new initiatives that the government had decided to take, he said. During the last two years more than five dozen new initiatives have been undertaken and nearly forty MoUs signed, he said.
The new economic initiatives that have been launched recently include building hydro dams, transfer of hybrid technology, expanding banking operations, roads and communication networks, co-operation in agriculture focusing on optimum utilisation of irrigation water and development of new high yielding varieties of wheat and cotton, the proposed Thar Coal project and dredging of Tarbela reservoir.
The President has also been regularly holding special meetings to review progress in all areas of Pak-China co-operation. The last such special meeting was held last week in the Presidency at which Pakistan's Ambassador in Beijing Masood Khan gave a detailed presentation on the status of the Pak-China collaborative projects.
He also pointed out areas requiring intervention to speed up the process at which the President issued directions to relevant Ministries for immediate action.
Ambassador Khan had pointed out at the special briefing that as a result of conscious efforts to further strengthen increased economic co-operation the two way trade, which used to be less than $2 billion in 2002 is now around $7 billion. He also informed the briefing meeting that there are about 120 Chinese enterprises working in Pakistan and that under the Five Year Programme for trade and economic co-operation 62 projects have been identified, out of which 27 have been launched; 26 are being examined; and 12 are being reviewed.
A Pakistan-China Joint Investment Company (JIC) has been established and is acting as a conduit for investment. Chinese have invested in Pakistan in telecommunications, energy, infrastructure, heavy engineering, IT, mining, and defence production. In 2008, Chinese and Pakistani enterprises signed contracts worth $4 billion.
Farhatullah Babar said that the President was keen on starting up the Thar Coal Project and exploring alternate energy sources like wind and solar with the assistance of Chinese entrepreneurs. The President has also called for providing special incentives to Chinese entrepreneurs to help set up a Telecom University, a telecom research and development centre and a plant to manufacture and assemble mobile handsets in the country.
President Zardari has been advocating providing access to China to markets in the Gulf countries through Pakistani ports as the ports of Shanghai and Hong Kong are too far away from at least half of mainland China.
The availability of low cost labour in Pakistan and the determination of Chinese entrepreneurs to continue working on projects undeterred by acts of terrorism are positive elements to help develop Pakistan as regional hub for manufacturing. The President envisions that these positive elements should be pressed into service to create a huge job market in Pakistan and also enable China to produce low cost goods through special incentives and export it using Pakistani communication infrastructure.
Farhatullah Babar said that the relations between the two countries were an important factor for peace and stability in the region and in the world, more so in view of the complexities of the regional and global situation, and the visit will help in further consolidation of these relations.
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