Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday arrived in Shenzhen, China for a five-day official visit during which he will hold meetings with corporate executives of leading Chinese companies dealing in oil and gas, energy, ICT, and emerging technologies.
Upon his arrival to Shenzhen, the premier and his delegation was warmly welcomed by Vice Mayor of Shenzhen city of China Luo Huanghao, Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan Jiang Zaidong, Pakistan’s Ambassador in Beijing Khalil Hashmi and senior diplomatic officials.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Petroleum Minister Dr Musaddik Malik and Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarar accompanied him.
In a statement, the Foreign Office (FO) said that the PM will meet President Xi Jinping and hold delegation-level talks with Premier Li Qiang.
Shehbaz will also hold meetings with chairman Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji, and heads of key government departments, the press release said.
“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,” FO added.
Earlier, various stakeholders on condition of strict anonymity told Business Recorder that the PM’s visit to China aims to secure delays in pending contractual obligations to Chinese companies, reschedule rollovers and budget support loans till the end of the under consideration Extended Fund Facility programme and launch of phase II of China Pakistan Economic Corridor.
They argued that the delays in pending contractual dues to Chinese companies are linked to the launch of Phase II of CPEC, and the Chinese have already told previous high-level Pakistani delegations that they will not renegotiate the terms of the contracts as projects in other countries would then be up for renegotiation.
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