ISLAMABAD  -   Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing Wednesday said that during the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to China agreements and MOUs of mutual cooperation will be signed which will bring the two countries closer.

While meeting with Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser at the Parliament House he hoped that the visit of Prime Minister will prove a milestone to bring the relations between two countries new heights. The ambassador said that the people and Government of China wanted to see a strong, stable and prosperous Pakistan.

Asad Qaiser said that the present government was committed to take the relations between two countries to new heights.  The Speaker stressed the need for improvement in Peshawar Circular Railways System. He assured all out cooperation of Federal and Provincial Governments for completion of CPEC Projects.

Federal Secretary Planning, Secretary P&D, KPK, other high ups of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and Chairman Economic Zone Management Committee were present in the meeting. The matters pertaining to bilateral relations, important regional and global issues, and RashaKai economic zone, and others ongoing projects under the CPEC were discussed in the meeting.

Prime Minister Imran Khan along with a high-level delegation is scheduled to travel to Beijing from November 01 to 05.

During the visit, Prime Minister Imran Khan will hold meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang and review the entire range of bilateral relations.

China is attaching high importance to the visit and so is Pakistan. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying expressed that the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan would take bilateral ties to a new height.

During a press briefing on October 26, the spokesperson offered Chinese help to its cash-starved neighbour. “We have noted that Pakistan has met some financial difficulties, we support Pakistan in taking effective measures to address them. In fact, we have offered assistance to the Pakistani side to the best of our ability,” the spokesperson said.

QURESHI CHAIRS PREPARATORY MEETING

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday chaired a preparatory meeting for the upcoming Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to China through video conference with Ambassador of Pakistan in Beijing and senior officials of the Embassy.

Foreign Secretary, Additional Secretary (Asia Pacific), Additional Secretary and Director General China were also in attendance, said a foreign ministry statement. The meeting discussed significance of the visit, the programme, meetings, agreements to be signed and its overall objectives. Emphasising importance of the visit, the foreign minister highlighted that Pakistan and China were ‘all-weather strategic cooperative partners’.

The two countries are close friends, good neighbours and development partners. The bilateral relationship has withstood the test of times. Regardless of domestic or international changes, this close friendship has served as a model of state to state relations for other countries, he said.

The foreign minister underscored that high-level contacts were an important facet of bilateral relationship.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit China on his first official visit from November 1-5. During his visit, the Prime Minister will meet the Chinese leadership in Beijing and also visit Shanghai to participate in the First China International Import Expo as a guest of honour. The visit will further strengthen the close and warm ties between the two brotherly countries. Highlighting that the bilateral relationship has been further strengthened, particularly in economic field by launching of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the foreign minister underscored that CPEC had added another important socio-economic development dimension to the bilateral relationship.

Leadership of both countries has expressed strong desire and commitment to successful implementation of CPEC, the statement said.  The new government in Pakistan has pledged its complete support and commitment to the advancement of CPEC. Pakistan considers CPEC as an engine for growth; a catalyst for economic development, and a platform for socio-economic uplift of the people of Pakistan. CPEC enjoys across the board political and institutional support in Pakistan, the statement added.

During recent visit of Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the two sides expressed their full support to CPEC and agreed to focus more on socio-economic development aspects of CPEC in the next phase. The two sides will further discuss ways and means of achieving this goal during the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister to China.

The two sides will continue their engagements at all levels to not only enhance their strategic partnership but also continue to promote regional peace and stability.

The visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to China will be instrumental in elevating friendship between Pakistan and China to new heights.