By The South Asia Times

ISLAMABAD/BEIJING — Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, where the two leaders pledged to further strengthen the “iron-clad” Pakistan-China all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.

The meeting, which included delegation-level talks followed by a luncheon hosted by the Chinese premier, reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral ties. Both leaders expressed satisfaction over the positive trajectory of relations and vowed to accelerate cooperation in political, economic and security domains.

Building on the consensus reached between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Shehbaz during their meeting earlier this month, the two sides welcomed the signing of the Joint Action Plan 2024–2029 as a key step towards deeper engagement.

The prime minister expressed gratitude to the Chinese leadership and people for their consistent support for Pakistan’s sovereignty and socio-economic development. He praised China’s transformation under President Xi’s leadership, noting Pakistan aimed to emulate Beijing’s development model while building “a stronger and closer Pakistan-China community with a shared future.”

Highlighting the role of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Shehbaz called for early implementation of ML-1, the realignment of Karakoram Highway, and full operationalization of Gwadar Port. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to advancing CPEC’s upgraded phase — CPEC 2.0 — with five new corridors.

The two leaders also witnessed the signing of several agreements and memorandums of understanding covering cooperation in CPEC 2.0, science and technology, IT, media, agriculture, and other sectors.

Shehbaz briefed Premier Li on the B2B Investment Conference earlier in the day, where over 800 Chinese and Pakistani companies participated. He underlined agriculture, mining, textiles, industry and IT as priority areas for joint ventures and investments.

On economic cooperation, Shehbaz announced Pakistan’s intent to float Panda Bonds in Chinese capital markets. He also reiterated Islamabad’s support for President Xi’s initiatives, including the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative.

The two leaders also discussed preparations for next year’s 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and China, which will be marked with a series of events and exchanges.