ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday on the first day of his official tour to China to explore avenues to cope up with ensuing economic crisis.
In the meeting, both leaders reinforced their shared commitment to taking their all-weather and time-tested friendship to new heights and to further strengthen the existing ties between Islamabad and Beijing for the benefit of the region.
Prime Minister Imran Khan also thanked President Xi Jinping for extending warm hospitality upon arrival and lauded President Xi’s vision and leadership as a role model saying, Pakistan is very impressed, the way China has progressed.
Pakistan wants to learn from China’s experience in poverty alleviation and curbing corruption, said the premier.
On the other hand, President Xi Jinping while welcoming the Prime Minister said that Pakistan China relations have already been strengthening, and now gained momentum.
The relationship has not only benefited the two countries but also the region, said Jinping.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan extended an invitation to President Xi Jinping to visit Pakistan.
Media reports say the premier is likely to secure $6 billion package from Beijing out of which $1.5 billion in the form of a grant would be deposited in Pakistan’s central bank to shore up balance of payment crisis.
Pak-China strategic relations will also be discussed during the crucial meeting; Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also met his counterpart, Wang Yi.
The PM’s four-day visit is intended at reviewing the entire range of bilateral relations and to participate in the First China International Import Expo; both the sides are also tipped to ink several agreements and MoUs of cooperation in multiple fields.
Prime Minister Imran Khan is also scheduled to meet Premier Li Keqiang, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Jin Liqun, and Minister for International Department of the Central Committee Communist Party of China Song Tao.
The premier is accompanied by Minister for Planning Khusru Bakhtiar, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Asad Umar, Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce, Industry and Investment Abdul Razzak Dawood, and Chief Minister of Balochistan Jam Mir Kamal on his trip.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/pm-imran-arrives-in-china-with-special-focus-on-anti-corruption-poverty-alleviation/
This is the first official visit of PM Khan to China after assuming charge and comes on the heels of a bailout package by Saudi Arabia – a development dubbed first diplomatic victory of the cricketer-turned-politician.
Earlier on Thursday, the premier highlighted that he wanted to learn how to eradicate corruption and alleviate poverty from Chinese leaders.
In an interview with Chinese media, the premier said Pakistan could learn more from China than any other developed country in the world to tackle the various socio-economic challenges because China too went through a lot of problems that Pakistan faces right now.
The Prime Minister said that since President Xi Jinping came to power, over 400 big names and powerful people have been convicted of corruption and that is the number one area which he hoped to learn during the China tour.
“Second is the poverty alleviation, just what China has achieved, no country in the human history has managed to achieve getting 700 million people out of poverty in 30 years,” he remarked.
