PM Abbasi arrives in China to attend Boao conference 2018

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi arrived in China today (Sunday) to attend the Boao Forum to be held from April 8 to 11 in Hainan province.

The prime minister was accompanied by a delegation comprising Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal and other senior officials and the premier would deliver his speech on Tuesday.

According to Radio Pakistan, PM Abbasi is also expected to hold meetings with the regional and global leaders in attendance.

Foreign leaders including Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will also attend the forum, also known as Aisa's Davos, where Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a keynote speech.

Chinese President is expected to unveil new economic reforms at the opening ceremony of the annual forum amid trade tension between China and the US is escalating.

Chinese leaders have pledged to lay out fresh market-opening measures this year, which marks the 40th anniversary of China’s landmark economic reforms and opening up under former leader Deng Xiaoping.

Other attendees include Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde.