Advertisement
Terrorism and economy expected to top agenda at China-Pakistan talks as security concerns cloud belt and road
- Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will head to China, where he will meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang
- Beijing is the South Asian country’s key trading partner and investor, but Chinese-driven infrastructure projects have been targets of terror attacks
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Counterterrorism cooperation and the economy are expected to be high on the agenda when Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif makes a five-day trip to China next week.
Advertisement
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning confirmed on Friday that Sharif’s trip, which starts on Tuesday, will include talks with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.
Sharif will also visit Guangdong province, China’s economic hub, and the northwestern province of Shaanxi.
“Under the guidance of the leaders of the two countries, China and Pakistan have in recent years had close high-level exchanges, steadily advanced practical cooperation … on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and maintained sound communication and coordination in international and regional affairs,” Mao said.
It is Sharif’s first trip to China since starting his second term as prime minister in March. His visit comes amid concerns about security in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, the site of a number of major Chinese infrastructure projects under the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Advertisement
In the latest in a string of attacks targeting personnel working on Chinese projects, five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed in a suicide bombing on their way to the Dasu hydropower dam project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in March.
Advertisement