ISLAMABAD: Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Islamabad on his maiden visit to Pakistan on Monday. This is the first by a Chinese president to Pakistan after nine years.
The Chinese president was received at the Noor Khan airbase by President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Raheel Sharif, Defence Minister Khwaja Asif and members of the prime minister’s cabinet.
Mr Jinping’s visit is being dubbed as a ‘fate-changing visit’ as he is expected to roll out nearly $28 billion for the first phase of the $45bn flagship Pakistan-China Economic Corridor (PCEC) Project.
Banners reading “Pakistan-China Friendship Zindabad”, portraits of the Chinese and Pakistani presidents and flags of the two countries waving across Constitution Avenue welcomed Mr Jinping to the capital.
Stringent security measures have been taken in the capital while security personnel have been deployed on all the important city roads in wake of the Chinese president’s visit.
According to a previous statement by the Foreign Office, President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping will address a joint session of Parliament during his two-day state visit to Pakistan from April 20 to 21.
Jinping’s upcoming trip to Pakistan is expected to focus on economic relations between both countries.
The Chinese president will launch energy and infrastructure projects worth $46 billion on a visit to Pakistan next week as China cements links with its old ally and generates opportunities for firms hit by slack growth at home.
Also being finalised is a long-discussed plan to sell Pakistan eight Chinese submarines. The deal, worth between $4 billion and $5 billion, according to media reports, may be among those signed on the trip.
Pakistan and China will sign Memorandam of Understandings (MoUs) in different areas during Mr Jinping’s visit.
Pakistan and China often boast of being “iron brothers” and two-way trade between the countries grew to $10 billion last year from $4 billion in 2007, Pakistani data shows.
With input from PakistanTribe.
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