During his meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged an additional assistance package of $68 million for the country’s flood relief efforts.
A press release by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FMPRC) said that Xi expressed “deep sympathies” to the Pakistani people over the “devastating” floods that have ravaged the country and assured that his government will provide “additional emergency relief to help with post-flood reconstruction.” “China supports Pakistan’s efforts to revive agricultural production, and will strengthen cooperation with Pakistan on disaster prevention and relief and climate change,” he told Sharif.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Premier of People's Republic of China H.E Li Keqiang witness signing of the MoUs/Agreements b/w Pakistan and China in different fields of mutual cooperation during a ceremony at Great Hall of the People in Beijing #PMShehbazinChina pic.twitter.com/QnQ599DiSX
— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) November 2, 2022
In response, Sharif expressed his “heartfelt appreciation” to China for its “valuable anti-COVID support, and for the generous assistance in the wake of the devastating floods.” “No country has ever helped Pakistan or other developing countries with such wholehearted sincerity,” he proclaimed.
Xi also pledged to continue supporting Pakistan’s strategic projects, including the Main Line-1 (ML-1) rail track. “The two sides will work together to create conditions for the early implementation of the upgradation of ML-1 and the Karachi Circular Railway project,” Xi said. He also invited Pakistan to export more agricultural products to China.
President #XiJinping said Pakistani PM @CMShehbaz's visit to China will inject new impetus into #China-#Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership. https://t.co/gtqwqXRC9Q pic.twitter.com/ZphFrWajC9
— Ji Rong嵇蓉 (@JiRongMFA) November 2, 2022
The two sides pledged to “make full use of the Joint Cooperation Committee of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), advance CPEC with greater efficiency, and make CPEC an exemplar of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.” “It is important to accelerate the construction of auxiliary infrastructure for Gwadar Port to unleash its role in driving interconnected development in the region,” Xi stressed.
My discussions with Chinese leadership will focus on revitalization of CPEC among many other things. 2nd phase of CPEC promises to usher in a new era of socio-economic progress that will uplift quality of our people's lives. There is a lot to learn from Chinese economic miracle. https://t.co/A6knRLzN6l
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) November 1, 2022
Furthermore, in light of a number of racially-motivated terrorist attacks in recent years, Xi raised concern about the safety of Chinese nationals in Pakistan, and expressed hope that Pakistan will work towards providing “a reliable and safe environment for Chinese institutions and personnel working on cooperation projects there.” Sharif assured that his government will “further step up security measures and do all it can to protect the safety of Chinese institutions and personnel” in the country.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif is being given a Guard of Honour at Great Hall of People. Premier of People's Republic of China H.E Li- Kiqiang is also present ( 02 November 2022)#PMShehbazinChina pic.twitter.com/ZObGx279CF
— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) November 2, 2022
He also promised to work with Pakistan in taking “solid steps to advance cooperation” in the fields of digital economy, e-commerce, photovoltaics, agriculture, science, and technology and said China will help Pakistan to stabilise its financial situation. Pakistan’s foreign reserves have fallen from $20.1 billion in August 2021 to $8.4 billion, as of July this year. Inflation, too, has crossed 42%, while the Pakistani rupee has traded at as high as 240 against the United States dollar (USD).
Sharif, who is among the first foreign leaders to visit China since Xi’s re-election, hailed the two countries’ “profound, iron-clad friendship,” which he said is “unbreakable.” The leader also reiterated Pakistan’s “firm commitment to the one-China policy and its firm support for China’s position on issues concerning China’s core interests including Taiwan, Xinjiang and Hong Kong.”
Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif met Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both leaders discussed mutual cooperation in all areas of bilateral relations, especially #CPEC projects and agreed to further strengthen strategic partnership.#PMShehbazinChina pic.twitter.com/NdKp6nmkXW
— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) November 2, 2022
According to a joint statement released after their meeting, both sides also signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) in areas covering “e-commerce, digital economy, export of agricultural products, financial cooperation, protection of cultural property, infrastructure, flood relief, post-disaster reconstruction, animal disease control, livelihood, cultural cooperation, space, geosciences as well as law enforcement and security.”
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif arrives in Beijing on his two-day official visit of China, today. #PMShehbazinChina#PakPMInChina#SharedDestiny 🇨🇳 🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/WiE3GRW9Bo
— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) November 1, 2022
Commenting on the visit, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during his regular press conference on Wednesday that the two sides are “good friends, good partners and good brothers,” who had “demonstrated an iron-clad friendship” even “amid global changes and uncertainties in recent years.”
“China views its relations with Pakistan from a strategic and long-term perspective, and Pakistan has always been a high priority in China’s neighborhood diplomacy. China is ready to work with Pakistan to elevate the level of all-round strategic cooperation,” Zhao stated.