ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will undertake almost a weeklong visit to China starting from Saturday to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit and hold bilateral meetings with the Chinese leadership.
“At the invitation of H.E. Mr. Xi Jinping, the President of the People’s Republic of China, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif is visiting China from 30 August-4 September 2025 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of State Summit being held in Tianjin,” read a statement issued here by the foreign office on Friday.
In China, the Prime Minister would hold meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang during which multifaceted dimensions of Pakistan-China bilateral cooperation would be discussed, the foreign office said.
He would also attend the military parade with President Xi and other world leaders being held in Beijing to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the World’s Anti-Fascist War.
The Prime Minister would interact with reputed Chinese businessmen and corporate executives to discuss bilateral trade, economic and investment ties. He would also address a Pakistan-China B2B Investment Conference in Beijing.
The visit is a part of leadership-level exchanges between Pakistan and China. It manifests the importance attached by the two countries to further deepen their “All Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership”, reaffirm support on issues of respective core interests, advance Phase-II of CPEC and maintain regular communication on important regional and global developments, read the foreign office statement.
This is going to be the first visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz since the Pakistan-India war in May following the Pahalgam attack. Pakistan emerged victorious when it shot down at least 6 Indian fighter jets including the highly advanced French made Rafale. It was the first time Chinese military hardware was tested on a real battlefield against the western technology.
China’s profile in terms of military technology has gone up by some notches as western commentators admitted that Beijing is not at par with other western countries in terms of defence equipment.
The visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz also comes at a critical juncture when the world and the region are undergoing major transformations. On one hand Pakistan’s ties with the United States have seen an unprecedented upward movement while Indian relationship with Washington hit a new low. Amid all this, there has been some push by India to reset ties with China.
Recently, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi travelled to New Delhi, the first visit by a top Chinese diplomat in three years. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also due to visit China to attend the SCO summit and meet President Xi.
However, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who travelled to Kabul and Islamabad after his stopover in New Delhi, made it clear that Beijing-Islamabad ties would remain rock solid.
Pakistan too conveyed in unambiguous terms that its improved ties with the US, the biggest adversary of China, would not have bearing on its strategic partnership with Beijing.
