Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accompanied by a high-level delegation reached Beijing, as part of the second leg of his five-day trip to China, on Wednesday to hold important meetings with the Chinese government officials.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong received the premier, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and other members of the cabinet and senior officials upon their arrival at the airport .
The PM’s visit to Beijing includes an extensive programme reflecting depth and breadth of Pakistan-China ties, during which he will meet the Chinese president, the premier and the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
He will also attend a Pakistan-China Friendship and Business event and have meetings with the chief executive officers of leading Chinese companies working on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.
A number of memorandum of understandings (MoUs) are likely to be signed between the two countries on cooperation in various fields.
Earlier, PM Shehbaz invited the Chinese tech company Huawei to invest in Pakistan’s taxation, and e-governance sectors besides enhancing its presence in Pakistan’s Safe City projects, during his visit to its headquarters in Shenzhen.
Upon his arrival at the headquarters, the premier was welcomed by Huawei Chairman Liang Hua. The chairman briefed the prime minister about Huawei’s operations worldwide, particularly in Pakistan, and expressed keen interest in investing in country’s different sectors.
He was also briefed about different sectors including e-governance, digital banking, telecommunication and artificial intelligence.
The premier appreciated the innovative operations of Huawei, including the Safe City projects and urged the company to increase its investments, particularly in the cities where CPEC projects were being executed.
He apprised the company chairman of the steps taken by the government for promotion of investment and ease of doing business in the country.
The premier, highlighting the government’s priority measures for digitisation of government offices, said there existed immense investment potential for giants like Huawei in taxation system, e-governance, and artificial intelligence.
Later, PM Shehbaz also attended the signing ceremony of a framework agreement between Huawei and Pakistan’s Ministry of Science and Technology under which the company would impart free of charge training to around 200,000 youngsters in information technology including the artificial intelligence.
Besides, the company would also extend its support to Pakistan in establishment of Safe Cities, e-governance and digitisation of economy.
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