Pakistan wants to expand trade, investment ties with China: PM Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD – October 3o (ONLINE) Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Sunday said Pakistan wanted to expand trade and investment ties with China by making optimal use of the second phase of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement and by enhancing industrial cooperation.

In an article penned in the Chinese newspaper Global Times, the Prime Minister said, “Pakistan can serve as the manufacturing base for China and an extension of its industrial and supply chain network.”

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the article said: Confucius once paid tribute to friends and friendship in these illuminating words;
“There are three types of good friends: one that is direct and honest; one that is trustworthy, dependable, and generous when you need help; and one that is knowledgeable and talented to guide you and show you what you can’t see.”

China-Pakistan eternal friendship fulfils all three attributes as illustrated by the Great Master!
Longevity, love and trust aptly describe Pakistan-China friendship. There is no relationship like ours which so deeply touches the soul of our people and evokes such strong emotions. Poetic expressions with emotive diction are used to captivate the essence of these fabulous ties. Touching stories of mutual support and solidarity in difficult times, transferred from generation to generation, have become an ineffaceable element of our collective consciousness.

Nurtured by the enthusiasm of our peoples and steered by vision of the leadership, the seed of Pakistan-China friendship has blossomed into an evergreen tree with deep roots and strong branches. It has withstood the vicissitudes of international upheavals and vagaries of domestic changes.

For Pakistan, relations with China form the cornerstone of our foreign policy; in China, Pakistan is described as Ba Tie i.e. China’s Iron Brother, and elsewhere our ties are appreciated for their unique strength, enduring permanence and unfathomable trust.

I would be soon in Beijing on my first bilateral visit after assuming office, and that too at an opportune time, soon after the successful conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.