Beijing, September 4, 2025(Kamran Raja): Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with Premier Li Qiang of the People’s Republic of China earlier today. The delegation-level talks were followed by a luncheon hosted in honor of the Prime Minister and his delegation. During their warm and cordial discussions, the two leaders expressed satisfaction at the positive trajectory of Pakistan-China relations. The Prime Minister conveyed his deep gratitude to the Chinese leadership and people for their steadfast support to Pakistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and socio-economic development. Building on the important consensus reached during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s meeting with President Xi Jinping on September 2, 2025, both leaders reaffirmed their shared resolve to further strengthen the iron-clad, all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between Pakistan and China. In this regard, the signing of the Joint Action Plan 2024-2029 was recognized as a major milestone.
The Prime Minister congratulated the Chinese leadership on the successful hosting of the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit in Tianjin and extended felicitations on the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Paying tribute to China’s remarkable development under President Xi Jinping’s visionary leadership, the Prime Minister said Pakistan wished to emulate China’s successes and build an even stronger Pakistan-China community with a shared future. He noted that Pakistan’s ongoing reform efforts were bearing fruit, made possible through China’s strong support. He also announced Pakistan’s intent to float Panda Bonds in the Chinese capital market in the near future. On the economic front, the Prime Minister underlined the transformative role of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – in Pakistan’s development over the past decade. Both sides agreed to accelerate the implementation of key projects including ML-I, KKH realignment, and operationalization of Gwadar Port, while also advancing the next phase of CPEC 2.0, featuring five new corridors.
Highlighting the potential for greater business-to-business (B2B) collaboration, the Prime Minister briefed Premier Li on the Pakistan-China B2B Investment Conference, held earlier in the day, which brought together over 300 Pakistani and 500 Chinese companies. He identified agriculture, mining, textiles, industry, and information technology as priority areas for enhanced cooperation. The Prime Minister reiterated Pakistan’s firm support for President Xi Jinping’s landmark global initiatives, including the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Governance Initiative, and Global Civilization Initiative. Both sides also looked forward to jointly celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and China next year. Following the meeting, both leaders attended the signing and announcement ceremony of multiple Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and agreements covering cooperation in CPEC 2.0, science and technology, IT, media, and agriculture.