BEIJING: Prime Minister Imran Khan has arrived in Beijing on a four-day official visit to attend ceremony of Winter Olympics and meet the Chinese leadership.
Assistant Foreign Minister of China Wu Jianghao received Prime Minister Imran Khan on his arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport.
Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan Wu Jie and Pakistan’s Ambassador in Beijing Moeenul Haq and senior embassy officials were also present.
PM Imran Khan is accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, and Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, National Security Advisor Dr Moeed Yusuf, Advisor on Commerce Abdul Razzaq Dawood and Special Assistant on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Khalid Mansoor.
Besides attending the ceremony of Beijing Olympics, the Prime Minister will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang to discuss host of issues.
During the visit, a book titled ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor - Investment Opportunities in Pakistan,’ will be presented to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and businessmen.
PM Imran set to visit China on Thursday
During the meeting, the two leaderships would discuss the ways to promote bilateral trade and economic cooperation, particularly under CPEC framework, besides the regional and international affairs.
Besides the virtual interactions with the prominent Chinese business leaders, top think tanks, intellectuals and media, other bilateral meetings are also on the prime minister’s agenda of the visit. This is the prime minister’s fourth visit to China as he paid last visit in October 2019.
Prior to his visit, Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered the removal of red tape hindering the Chinese investment in Pakistan, ordering “the removal of 37 regulations to ensure one-window operation for foreign investors.”
Pakistan and China supported each other in their fight against the Covid pandemic and pushed forward high-quality development of CPEC, while Beijing had invested over $25 billion in Pakistan on CPEC projects generating 80,000 jobs, producing 5500kw of electricity and building over 500 kilometres of roads.
The Pak-China cooperation against the COVID-19 pandemic has remained exemplary. President Dr. Arif Alvi visited China in March 2020 to express solidarity with the Chinese people.
Pakistan is one of the earliest supporters and participants of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). As BRI’s flagship project, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor complements Pakistani government’s vision of economic sovereignty.
The China’s non-financial direct investment in countries under the BRI reached $17.99 billion from January to November in 2021, up 12.7 percent year-on-year despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and gloomy global investment environment.
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