Pakistan accords high priority to its relationship with China: Gilani

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday said Pakistan accords high priority to its close relationship with China and was keen to further expand these in all spheres.
Talking to China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who called on him here at Prime Minister House, Gilani said Pakistan and China enjoy broad-based relationship and the two countries were actively co-operating in political, diplomatic, social, economic, and defence fields.
He said China was Pakistan's strategic partner, all-weather and time-tested friend. Pakistan enjoys a relationship with China that is based on strong trust, abiding co-operation and understanding of each others positions. This friendship withstood changes in the international environment, as is based on mutual trust, unanimity of views on important regional and international issues, he added.
During the meeting, there was a unanimity of views further increasing trade, investment, and co-operation in fields of defence, science and technology, education, besides enhancing people to people contact.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan was confronting challenges of food and energy, security and the government was working on short and long-term measures to overcome these. He said his government would welcome Chinese co-operation in this regard to effectively deal with these problems at the earliest.
Referring to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China, the Prime Minister said that the FTA would open up new avenues between the two countries to further enhance bilateral trade.
He said the government was providing several incentives to the Chinese to invest in Pakistan so that the economic ties between the two counties could be further strengthened. On the issue of terrorism, the Prime Minister said that Pakistan was committed to curbing terrorism and extremism in all its forms and manifestation through multi-pronged strategy, including political engagements, economic development, and security measures.
Yang Jiechi said that his government and the people of China always regard Pakistan as their true friend, and hoped that existing relations between the two countries would further gain momentum in future.
He said China and Pakistan were strategic partners and hoped their relations would grow further in time to come particularly in economic field. He said his government would encourage big companies of China to invest in Pakistan in various sectors.
He said the investment of China Mobile in the telecommunication sector was a beginning. The foreign minister said China would continue its co-operation with Pakistan in the field of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. He said the people and the government of China supports their brethren in Pakistan and will work closely with each other to enhance co-operation in every field.
The Chinese foreign minister who conveyed personal greetings of the Chinese premier to Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on assuming his office also invited the Prime Minister to visit China in the near future, which he accepted, and hoped it would be a milestone to further develop relations between the two friendly countries.