PM Shehbaz Sharif arrives in Beijing, to meet top Chinese leadership

BEIJING: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday landed in Beijing on a two-day official visit to meet Chinese leadership and review all-weather strategic cooperation partnership and discuss regional and global developments.

On his arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport, the prime minister was given a red carpet welcome as smartly turned-out contingents of the Chinese forces presented him with the guard of honor, a PM Office statement said.

During his first official visit to China after assuming office, the prime minister will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.He is heading a high-level delegation including the federal cabinet ministers, special assistants as well as Sindh chief minister.

He is among the first leaders to visit China following the historic 20th National Congress of the Communist Party (CPC) of China that elected Xi Jinping as general secretary of the party.Prime Minister Shehbaz is also scheduled to meet Chinese investors and Pakistanibusinessmen.

The visit is expected to advance the wide-ranging bilateral cooperation agenda with the conclusion of a number of MoUs/ agreements in diverse areas, and consolidate the momentum of CPEC cooperation in the wake of the 11th meeting of the CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) held on October 27.

Before leaving for Beijing, the prime minister wrote on his Twitter handle: Honoured to be among the first few leaders to have been invited after the historic 20th National Congress of the CPC. At a time when the world is grappling with multiple challenges, Pakistan & China stand together as friends & partners.

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.