Islamabad:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will take on almost a weekly visit to China starting from Saturday to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit and hold bilateral meetings with Chinese leadership.
“At the invitation of Mr Xi Jinping, the President of the People’s Republic of China, Visit Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif China from 30 August-4th September 2025 to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Organization Council for the Prime Meeting Meeting in Tianjin,”
In China, the Prime Minister held with President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang, where many different dimensions of bilateral cooperation with many multiple dimensions would be discussed, the foreign office said.
He would also participate in the military parade, where President XI and other world leaders were held in Beijing to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Anti-Fascist War of the World.
The prime minister would interact with reputed Chinese business people and business leaders to discuss bilateral trade, financial and investment ties. He would also turn to a Pakistan-China B2B investment conference in Beijing.
The visit is part of the exchange level exchange between Pakistan and China. It manifests the significance associated with the two countries to further elaborate on their “all weather strategic cooperative partnership,” confirms support for respective core interests, Advance Phase-II for CPEC and maintain regular communication on important regional and global developments, read the Foreign Office’s statement.
This will be the first visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz since the Pakistan India war in May following the Pahagam attack. Pakistan came out victorious as it shot down at least 6 Indian fighter jets, including the highly advanced Frenchmen made Rafale. It was the first time the Chinese military hardware was tested on a real battlefield against Western technology.
China’s profile in terms of military technology has increased by some notches as Western commentators admitted that Beijing is not on par with other Western countries in terms of defense equipment.
Prime Minister Shehbaz’s visit also comes at a critical time when the world and region undergo major transformations. On the one hand, Pakistan’s ties with the United States have seen an unprecedented movement upwards, while the Indian relationship with Washington hit a new low. In the middle of all this, there has been some push of India to reset the tape with China.
Recently, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi traveled to New Delhi, the first visit of a top Chinese diplomat of three years. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi must also visit China to attend the SCO summit and meet President XI.
However, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who traveled to Kabul and Islamabad after his stopover in New Delhi, made it clear that Beijing-Islamabad tape would remain rock solid.
Pakistan also transferred in unique terms that its improved ties to the United States, the biggest opponent in China, would not affect his strategic partnership with Beijing.
