China takes note of positive trajectory of Pakistan's economy

ISLAMABAD: As Shehbaz Sharif-led government presses on with its reforms, China Thursday acknowledged "positive trajectory" of Pakistan's economy.

The development came during a meeting between Chinese Finance Minister Lan Fo'an met Foreign Miniser and Deputy PM Ishaq Dar in Beijing. The deputy PM is in China on a four-day visit to co-chair the 5th Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers' Strategic Dialogue.

During their meeting, the Chinese FinMin reaffirmed his country's continued support for Pakistan's efforts to bring about financial stability.

Appreciating bilateral financial and banking cooperation as the manifestation of the "All Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership", the Chinese minister took note of the positive trajectory of Pakistan's economy.

As per the Foreign Office (FO), the high-level meeting saw the two sides discussing ideas to further enhance financial cooperation, especially in view of growing business-to-business (B2B) linkages between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Deputy PM Dar underscored Islamabad's reform agenda with its focus on governance, revenue, and ease of doing business to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and stressed the prioritisation of Chinese investments by the government in various fields including agriculture, IT, mines and minerals and renewable energy.

A day earlier, FM Dar — who reached Beijing on May 13 — met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi wherein the latter voiced Beijing's readiness to promote an "upgraded version" of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

During the meeting, the duo agreed to sustain the growing momentum of bilateral relations in all areas of cooperation and to further deepen the iron-clad friendship.

On his four-day visit, Dar has held various high-level interactions with various Chinese officials including Chinese Executive Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Secretary-General Ambassador Zhang Ming and others.

In his interaction with Xuexiang, the FM held an in-depth discussion on various aspects of bilateral relations, including CPEC Phase II, trade, economic cooperation and investment.

He also accentuated the progress made by CPEC in energy and infrastructure and expressed confidence in the positive dividends under Phase II in the fields of industry, agriculture and mineral development.

During his stay there, the Deputy PM highlighted the government's investor-friendly policies and invited Chinese companies to set up manufacturing and processing units in Pakistan.