PM Shehbaz Sharif lands in China’s Shenzhen on first leg of five-day China visit

Premier was invited by China's Prime Minister Li Qiang, marking his first visit since assuming office this year

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday arrived in Shenzhen on the first leg of his five-day official visit to China from June 4 to 8, to meet the Chinese leadership and the business community.

As the prime minister landed at the Shenzhen Airport, he was warmly received by Vice Mayor of Shenzhen city of China Luo Huanghao, Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan Jiang Zaidong, Pakistan’s Ambassador in Beijing Khalil Hashmi and senior diplomatic officials.

Shenzhen is the first stop during the prime minister’s official visit to China.

The premier will meet with Secretary of Communist Party of China in Shenzhen Meng Fanli to discuss the ways to promote bilateral cooperation.

During his two-day stay, PM Shehbaz and his delegation will meet the leadership of the Guangdong province and Shenzhen Municipal Government as well as leading Chinese companies in innovation and high-tech sectors.

He will also inaugurate the Pakistan-China Business Conference in line with his vision to support, promote and lead collaboration between the businessmen of the two countries. A business delegation of leading Pakistani business persons will attend the conference for collaboration with the influential Chinese counterparts.

Shenzhen is the hub of China’s innovation, technology and research led companies and enterprises. The visit to Shenzhen aims to bolster economic cooperation in export-oriented innovation led, advanced technologies, high-tech development and ICT.

Pakistan’s delegation comprises prominent business figures, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Petroleum Minister Dr Musaddik Malik, Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarar, Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, Privatisation Minister Abdul Aleem Khan and Minister of State for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja.

After landing in Shenzhen, the prime minister took to X saying, “Impressed by the city’s skyline and development that symbolises modern day China. Looking forward to my engagements with the provincial authorities, business community and industry giants here before proceeding to Beijing for official talks with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and other Chinese leaders and high officials.”

Landed in Shenzhen on the first leg of my official visit to China at the invitation of the Chinese leadership. Impressed by the city’s skyline and development that symbolizes modern day China. Looking forward to my engagements with the provincial authorities, business community… pic.twitter.com/UbtzmRDOyV

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) June 4, 2024

The premier is also scheduled to speak at the Business-to-Business Forum, where representatives from 79 Pakistani companies will meet with Chinese counterparts. The visit aims to advance the evergreen strategic cooperative partnership between the two nations and to take new steps in a shared future.

Read: Pakistan eyes loans, infra deals during PM's China visit

In all those years, both countries have engaged in high-level exchanges, productive cooperation on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and maintained strong coordination on international and regional matters.

Under the second phase of CPEC, Pakistan and China will implement the key consensus reached by their leaders, which includes strengthening development strategies and policy coordination. They will also accelerate progress on mega projects such as the "ML-1" upgrade, Gwadar Port, and the Karakoram Highway Phase II renovation.

The BRI project has brought a total of $25.4 billion in direct investment, 236,000 jobs, 510 kilometers of highways, over 8,000 megawatts of electricity, and an 886-kilometer core transmission network, that has strengthened Pakistan's economic and social development.

Earlier, the Chinese envoy highlighted that as a landmark project of the Belt and Road international cooperation, batch after batch of schemes had been launched, completed as well, and put into operation under the framework of CPEC.

He continued that these schemes had resulted in $25.4 billion in direct investment, 236,000 jobs, 510 kilometers of highway, more than 8,000 MW of electricity, and 886 kilometers of core power transmission network.

The visit seeks to bolster collaboration in industry, agriculture, mining, energy, and IT while promoting trade liberalization.

Shehbaz Sharif to hold B2B meetings in China

Last week, the PM presided over a meeting to discuss the development of thorough plans to conduct productive business-to-business meetings between the two countries.

He directed the relevant authorities to create strategies aimed at attracting Chinese industries to establish their operations in Pakistan, assuring them of the government's complete support and facilitation.

The PM urged Pakistan’s ambassador to China to provide comprehensive assistance to the Pakistani business delegation during their visit.

(With additional input from APP)