Pakistan’s PM Lands in China for High-Stakes Visit

(MENAFN) Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif touched down in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province Saturday, kicking off a four-day state visit aimed at deepening strategic ties with Beijing while Islamabad remains at the center of a fragile diplomatic effort to permanently end the US-Iran war, state-run media reported.

Sharif departed earlier Saturday morning with the stated goal of "strengthen strategic coordination," according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office, as Pakistan continues to serve as the primary back-channel between Washington and Tehran.

He is accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, alongside additional cabinet members and senior officials.

The visit opens in Hangzhou, where Sharif will chair the Pakistan-China B2B Investment Conference spanning the IT and telecom, battery energy storage, and agriculture sectors. He will subsequently travel to Beijing for face-to-face meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

Xi's decision to host Sharif carries considerable diplomatic weight. Beijing has received a string of top world leaders this month as efforts to broker a permanent end to the US-Iran conflict accelerate — with both the US and Russian presidents having met with Xi in the past two weeks alone.

Pakistan brokered the ceasefire that halted fighting on April 8, weeks after Israel and the US launched military strikes on Tehran on Feb. 28, killing more than 3,300 people and displacing thousands inside Iran.

The visit also coincides with celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"The visit is expected to further deepen political trust, strengthen strategic coordination, expand practical cooperation and consolidate the longstanding friendship between Pakistan and China," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in an earlier statement.

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