Pakistani PM upcoming visit will set blueprint for bilateral ties

The upcoming official visit by Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif from Tuesday to June 8 will see leaders of the two countries chart the future blueprint for bilateral ties, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday.

This is the first visit of the prime minister to China since the new cabinet of Pakistan took office this year.

During his visit to China, leaders of the two countries will embark on in-depth exchange of views on bilateral ties and issues of common concerns, Mao said at a daily news conference.

In addition to Beijing, the prime minister will also visit Guangdong and Shaanxi province.

Mao said China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners and iron-clad friends, and the friendship between the two countries has survived the test of the changing times and is as solid as a rock and as stable as Mount Taishan.

"Under the leadership of the two leaders, China and Pakistan have rolled out close high-level exchanges in recent years and bilateral practical cooperation has been steadily advancing," she said.

Also, the two countries have achieved fruitful results in the high-quality construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and both sides have maintained good communication and coordination in international and regional affairs, she added.

China looks forward to taking this visit as an opportunity to jointly promote greater development of the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and take new strides to build a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, she said.