ISLAMABAD Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has called for joint, concerted efforts to make the economic relations between Pakistan and China commensurate with the level of political ties between the two countries. The Prime Minister expressed hope that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the largest Bank in the world, would soon open its Branches in Pakistan and acquire equities in Pakistani Banks to pave way for increased trade and investment between the two countries. The Prime Minister was talking to Madam Lili Wang, Senior Executive Vice President of the ICBC, who called on him at the PM Secretariat this morning. The Prime Minister underlined that while bilateral ties had flourished in multi-faceted fields, cooperation in the finance and banking sectors needed to be focused upon in the larger interest of long-term, strong economic relations between Pakistan and China. The Prime Minister expressed hope that meetings of Senior Executive Vice President of ICBC with the Governor State Bank and other concerned senior officials would be constructive and fruitful in making progress on both these counts. Madam Lili Wang commended the Government of Pakistan for making progress in the economic sector despite enormous challenges that it was facing and noted that Pakistan had registered a GDP growth of more than 4 per cent in the first six months of 2010. She also expressed satisfaction over the volume of bilateral trade between the two sides, which had crossed $ 4 billion mark in the same period and is likely to touch $ 10 billion by the end of this year. She assured the Prime Minister of ICBCs proactive efforts to expedite the process of opening its Branches in Pakistan and of considering equity participation in Pakistans Finance and Banking Sectors.