PM Imran Khan’s visit to promote further development of bilateral ties: Chinese spokesperson
ISLAMABAD/BEIJING: Prime Minister Imran Khan will depart for Beijing today for a five-day visit during which he will hold meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, and other important leaders.
The PM was earlier scheduled to visit China from November 2 to 5 on the invitation of the Chinese leadership. But an updated schedule of the prime minister’s visit released by the government said the PM would now depart a day earlier via a special plane.
This will be PM Imran Khan’s first official visit to China after assuming office in August this year.
A high-level delegation, including Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, will accompany the PM.
The Foreign Office, in a statement earlier, said the two sides will review the entire range of bilateral relations during the visit, which have enjoyed a long history of mutual trust and mutual support. The two leaders will also sign several agreements in diverse fields.
PM Imran Khan is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on November 2. He will visit the Monument to the People’s Heroes at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and also meet the chairman of the National People’s Congress on November 3.
A guard of honour will also be given in honour of the Pakistani PM.
He will meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang the same day at a ceremony during which the two leaders will sign memorandums of agreements between the two countries.
On November 4, the PM will speak at the Central Party School before leaving for Shanghai to participate in the first China International Import Expo. The PM will be a keynote speaker at the inauguration of the expo, and among 18 heads of state and government who will be attending the expo.
More than 2,800 companies from 130 countries and regions, and 160,000 buyers from over 80,000 Chinese and foreign companies will participate in the expo.
Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang said during his regular briefing in Beijing said, “This is his first official visit to China since Prime Minister Imran Khan took office, in which, the leaders of the two countries will conduct in-depth exchanges on issues of common concern.”
To a question that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had caused some debt problems to Pakistan, the spokesperson reiterated that “the Pakistani government and all sectors of society had expressed that the corridor served as a mutually beneficial cooperation project between China and Pakistan and had played an important role in improving people’s livelihood and promoting economic development in Pakistan”.