Premier Li Keqiang held a bilateral meeting with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan in Beijing on November 3. At the invitation of Premier Li, Prime Minister Khan visited China from November 2-5 on his first official visit since being elected. The meeting was marked by traditional warmth, mutual understanding and trust.

On arrival to the Great Hall of the People, Prime Minister Khan was received by an welcoming ceremony where he inspected the honor guard.

During their bilateral meeting, Premier Li congratulated Prime Minister Khan on his successful election and expressed his willingness to further strengthen the “all-weather strategic cooperative partnership” for a shared future. Prime Minister Khan thanked Premier Li for the warm hospitality and reaffirmed the message of strong strategic partnership between Pakistan and China.

The two leaders reiterated their resolve to continue to deepen the relationship and explore new avenues for practical collaboration.

Both sides conveyed satisfaction with the progress of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative. The two leaders expressed complete faith in the importance and future development of CPEC. They also expressed confidence that Pakistan’s process of industrial development will accelerate with the launch of special economic zones and industrial parks.

Sharing his vision of Naya Pakistan, the prime minister congratulated Premier Li on China’s successful anti-corruption drive, poverty alleviation, and modernization based on innovation and information technology. He added that China’s phenomenal success in the past 40 years which has resulted in the socio-economic lifting up of its people offers a great example for developing countries.

The two leaders expressed their commitment to maintain close engagement on issues of regional and global importance and agreed that the relationship has withstood the test of time, notwithstanding changes in domestic, regional and global situations.

They witnessed the signing of a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding in the fields of agriculture, poverty reduction, forestry, law enforcement and socio-economic development.

Prime Minister Khan extended an invitation to Premier Li to visit Islamabad at his earliest convenience.

Copyedited by Rebeca Toledo

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