ISLAMABAD/BEIJING – Pakistan and China inked 23 MoUs and agreements to enhance bilateral cooperation in diverse fields, including transport infrastructure, industry, energy, agriculture, media, health, water, socioeconomic development, and other mutual interests.
The two sides signed MOUs after delegation-level talks between Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, as two sides reaffirmed Pakistan-China Strategic Cooperative Partnership, emphasizing mutual trust, shared principles, and strategic governance.
PM Shehbaz Sharif and Premier Li Qiang also attended ceremony where representatives from both nations signed the agreements.
It includes news exchange, co-production of films, and cooperation. The other includes DI Khan-Zhob National Highway 50, Muzaffarabad-Mirpur-Mangla Expressway, Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway 9, and the construction of a tunnel at Babusar on the Mansehra-Chilas National Highway.
Other signed documents included modalities for third-party participation in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), MoUs on the re-alignment of the Karakoram Highway (KKH), agricultural cooperation, anti-monopoly cooperation, an action plan for the 2022 Industrial Cooperation Framework, a protocol on surveying, mapping, and geo-information in scientific and technical fields, and a study on establishing an effective energy management system.
Additionally, Letters of Intent were signed for workshops on governance capacity building and industrial park development, and certificates were handed over for the Pak-China Friendship Hospital and a Desalination Plant in Gwadar.
Letters of Exchange were also signed for reconstructing primary schools in Sindh, the Lady Health Workers Workstations project, and the Junaco Cultivation Demonstration and Projection project, alongside an endorsement of the agreement reached in the 7th Joint Working Group to enhance cooperation under CPEC.
Since arriving in China for a five-day visit, Prime Minister Sharif has met with Chinese investors and business leaders to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan. At events such as the Business Forum in Shenzhen, he encouraged Chinese companies to invest and develop joint ventures in Pakistan.
Several MoUs with Chinese companies have been signed in the fields of economy, green energy, textiles, and manufacturing.
Before departing for China, Prime Minister Sharif had informed Chinese media that he would engage with Chinese business leaders to secure investments that would yield mutual benefits for companies in both countries. He remarked, “We are coming with serious plans. We will engage with you and return to Pakistan with great dividends that will benefit Chinese and Pakistani companies, strengthening relations higher than the Himalayas and deeper than the deepest oceans.”
