Imran gets prominent coverage in Chinese media

BEIJING: Prime Minster Imran Khan who is here for the third time within a period of one year, having meetings with the Chinese leadership got prominent coverage in the Chinese media.

On Wednesday, the reports of his meeting with Premier Li Keqiang, joint statement and signing of bilateral agreements were the front-page report in the Chinese leading newspapers. Besides this, the Online media, including China Economic Net put the reports as a leading story.

The China Economic Net, quoting the Premier said, the Chinese leadership has always seen Pakistan as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy and will support its efforts to push forward national prosperity and rejuvenation. Li reaffirmed China's staunch support for Pakistan in its efforts to safeguard national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and legitimate interests in a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan.

The two nations are all-weather strategic cooperative partners and their bilateral friendship is built on strong foundations, Li said. He added that the bilateral friendship is not attached with any terms nor does it target any third party, and it enjoys hearty support from both peoples.

He called on both nations to continue to deepen mutual strategic trust, expand pragmatic cooperation and conduct closer people-to-people exchanges so as to bring bilateral ties and cooperation to a new level.

China stands ready to continue to provide Pakistan assistance to the best of its capacities, he said. Li also urged greater alignment in development strategies of both sides and continuous efforts to promote high-quality development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The premier called for further bilateral cooperation in infrastructure, economy, trade, finance and production capacity, as well as stronger steps to promote more balanced growth of bilateral trade. Li also appealed to Pakistan to ensure the security of Chinese institutions and personnel in the South Asian country.