‘All-weather friends’: PM Ashraf meets Chinese counterpart

Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf is in China’s port city Tianjin to attend the World Economic Forum.

BEIJING: China has assured its complete support to Pakistan on regional and international issues during a meeting between prime ministers of both the countries in Tiangin on Tuesday.

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Wen Jiabo discussed a gamut of issues including cooperation in defence, infrastructure development, energy, agriculture and banking. They also reaffirmed the resolve to further strengthen ties in trade and defence.

The two leaders noted that both the countries share similar views on important regional and global issues and would continue to extend support to each other at all levels.

The two sides were of the view that they are opposed to terrorism and will continue to cooperate with each other to eliminate this threat.

They also agreed on exploiting full potential of the two business communities to boost their economy and trade. They renewed their focus on achieving target of $15 billion bilateral trade.

Ashraf said that Pakistan attaches great importance to enhancing economic and trade links with China. He sought investment by Chinese companies in Pakistan’s various areas and stressed the need for making efforts to realise the full potential of bilateral trade.

He further termed the Chinese assistance in carrying out mega projects in Pakistan as significant. He said it was high time to address the global economic crisis and find ways to counter its impact on growing economies.

The Chinese premier said that his country considers Pakistan its friend and underscored the importance of time-tested strategic partnership between the two countries.

He reiterated the stance of his government of supporting the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan.

Wen Jiabao also expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s role against terrorism and extremism and called for greater international recognition of its efforts and sacrifices in this regard.