Pakistan, China agree to further deepen strategic cooperation

ISLAMABAD  - Pakistan and China Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen strategic cooperation across key areas, including the economy, investment and regional connectivity. This was discussed during a meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and the visiting Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Islamabad today.

Both sides also emphasized the need to expedite the implementation of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects. Welcoming the delegation, the President emphasized that Pakistan’s friendship with its all-weather partner remains a cornerstone of the country’s foreign policy. He stressed the importance of explor­ing new avenues for cooper­ation as there is more space to expand bilateral relations. He also underscored the need to enhance connectivi­ty through all-weather road networks to strengthen trade and people-to-people linkag­es. He said Chinese compa­nies should benefit from the investment opportunities in Pakistan by investing in the Pakistan Stock Exchange. ‘Pak-China joint statement’ 

Pakistan and China on Tuesday agreed to contin­ue to deepen cooperation in various fields and accelerate efforts to build an even clos­er Pakistan-China commu­nity with a shared future in the new era. “The two sides noted that in a transforming and turbulent world where major changes are unfold­ing at a faster pace, the Pa­kistan-China relationship is of strategic significance, and any attempt to disrupt or undermine Pakistan-Chi­na cooperation is bound to fail. Pakistan and China en­joy an all-level, cross-board and high-quality relation­ship. The Chinese side reiter­ated that the China-Pakistan relationship is a priority in its foreign relations. The Pa­kistani side underscored that the Pakistan-China relation­ship is the cornerstone of its foreign policy while the Chi­nese side highlighted that the China-Pakistan relation­ship is of special significance in China’s foreign policy,” a joint statement between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People’s Republic of China, shared by Foreign Of­fice Spokesperson on Tues­day, said. 

The two sides expressed grave concern over the pro­tracted conflict in Gaza and the dire and rapidly deteri­orating humanitarian situ­ation, and urged for an im­mediate and permanent ceasefire as well as efforts to ensure unimpeded humani­tarian assistance. 

The two sides reaffirmed their support for the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including their right to establish an in­dependent State of Palestine. 

Both sides expressed sup­port for resuming the pro­cess of political settlement and their readiness to work with the rest of the interna­tional community to promote a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Pal­estinian question. 

“The two sides expressed grave concern over recent Israeli aggression on Leba­non, which further escalat­ed the tension in the region. We oppose practices that vi­olate the purposes and prin­ciples of the Charter of the United Nations, the violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty, se­curity and territorial integ­rity and oppose moves that fuel antagonism and esca­late tensions. Pakistan and China call on the internation­al community, especially ma­jor countries with influence, to play a constructive role and avoid further turmoil,” it was added. Pakistan and Chi­na reaffirmed their commit­ment to an upgraded version of China Pakistan Econom­ic Corridor (CPEC) by joint­ly building a growth corridor, a livelihood-enhancing corri­dor, an innovation corridor, a green corridor and an open corridor, and develop CPEC into a demonstration project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. 

“The two sides agreed to further synergize China’s eight major steps for sup­porting Belt and Road coop­eration with Pakistan’s 5Es framework based on Exports, E-Pakistan, Environment, En­ergy, and Equity & Empow­erment.” The Pakistani side positively assessed the visit by the Chinese working team on economic cooperation, and expressed its willingness to continue experience-sharing on development in various ar­eas with the Chinese side. 

At the invitation of Muham­mad Shehbaz Sharif, Chinese Premier Li Qiang paid an of­ficial visit to Pakistan from October 14 to 17. The two sides underscored that since the establishment of dip­lomatic ties, Pakistan-Chi­na relations have withstood the test of times and have re­mained rock-solid. 

Since President Xi Jinping’s historic state visit to Paki­stan in 2015, the All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Part­nership between the two countries has made signifi­cant progress. 

After Prime Minister She­hbaz Sharif’s successful of­ficial visit to China in June 2024, the two countries have enjoyed even stronger po­litical mutual trust, more vi­brant cooperation, and closer strategic coordination. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the momentum of Pa­kistan-China relations and agreed to further strengthen the ironclad friendship and cooperation between the two countries. The Pakistani side highly commends and firmly supports major visions and propositions put forth by President Xi Jinping, such as fostering a community with a shared future for mankind, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Ini­tiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civi­lization Initiative. 

Both sides advocate for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally ben­eficial and inclusive econom­ic globalization, and are com­mitted to working together with all countries around the world for a bright future of peace, security, prosperity and progress. 

The two sides agreed to maintain the momentum of exchanges under the strate­gic guidance of the top lead­ers for the development of bi­lateral relations. They agreed to further strengthen ex­changes and cooperation at all levels and across various fields between governments, legislative bodies and politi­cal parties. 

The Pakistani side ex­pressed warm congratula­tions on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Peo­ple’s Republic of China and the successful conclusion of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commit­tee of the Communist Party of China and highlighted that China’s endeavor to further deepen reform comprehen­sively and advance high-stan­dard opening up will bring new development opportuni­ties for Pakistan and all other countries around the world. 

The Chinese side com­mends the new achieve­ments attained by Pakistan in economic reform and devel­opment under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The two sides reaf­firmed their firm support to each other in independently choosing a development path that suits their respective na­tional realities, and agreed to strengthen exchanges of gov­ernance experience and fos­ter greater synergy between their development strategies. 

The two sides reaffirmed their unyielding support for each other on the issues con­cerning their respective core interests and major concerns. 

Both sides stressed that the authority of the U.N. General Assembly Resolu­tion 2758 brooks no ques­tion or challenge.