BEIJING, Feb 3 (APP): Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday arrived here on a four-day official visit where he would join other world leaders attending the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics scheduled to be held Friday.
Accompanied by a high-level delegation including federal cabinet members, the prime minister would also meet the Chinese leadership.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Planning Minister Asad Umar, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf, Commerce Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood and Special Assistant on China Pakistan Economic Corridor Khalid Mansoor are part of the prime minister’s delegation.
On his arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport, the prime minister was welcomed by the Assistant Foreign Minister of China Wu Jianghao. Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan Wu Jie and Pakistan’s Ambassador in Beijing Moeenul Haq and senior embassy officials were also present.
Besides attending the ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Imran Khan will also meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.
During the meeting, the two leaderships would discuss the ways to promote bilateral trade and economic cooperation, particularly under CPEC framework, besides the regional and international affairs.
Besides the virtual interactions with the prominent Chinese business leaders, top think tanks, intellectuals and media, other bilateral meetings are also on the prime minister’s agenda of the visit.
This is the prime minister’s fourth visit to China as he paid last visit in October 2019.
Prior to his visit, Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered the removal of red tape hindering the Chinese investment in Pakistan, ordering “the removal of 37 regulations to ensure one-window operation for foreign investors.”
Pakistan and China supported each other in their fight against the Covid pandemic and pushed forward high-quality development of CPEC, while Beijing had invested over $25 billion in Pakistan on CPEC projects generating 80,000 jobs, producing 5500kw of electricity and building over 500 kilometers of roads.
The Pak-China cooperation against the COVID-19 pandemic has remained exemplary. President Dr. Arif Alvi visited China in March 2020 to express solidarity with the Chinese people.
Pakistan is one of the earliest supporters and participants of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). As BRI’s flagship project, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor complements Pakistani government’s vision of economic sovereignty.
The China’s non-financial direct investment in countries under the BRI reached $17.99 billion from January to November in 2021, up 12.7 percent year-on-year despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and gloomy global investment environment.
The CPEC is a transformational project. Among 70 early-harvest projects, 46 have been launched or completed with a total investment of $ 25.4 billion creating 80,000 local jobs.
