Beijing | Pakistan

Islamabad - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Beijing after concluding his official engagements in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, at a time when rapidly evolving geopolitical developments across the region have enhanced the strategic significance of Pakistan-China consultations.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reached Beijing on Sunday, where he would have “high-level engagements” with the Chinese leadership, including President Xi Jinping and his counterpart, Li Qiang. PM Shehbaz landed in Hangzhou on Saturday, kicking off his four-day official visit to China. He addressed the Pakistan-China Business-to-Business Investment Conference in Hangzhou earlier today, following which he reached Beijing, where he was received by Chinese Minister of Environment and Ecology Huang Runqiu. “During his stay in Beijing, the prime minister will hold high-level engagements, including meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qian,g to further strengthen Pakistan-China all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and advance cooperation under CPEC Phase-II, particularly in trade, investment, industry, agriculture, science and technology, and people-to-people exchanges,” a statement by the PM’s Office (PMO) said. It added that in Hangzhou, the PM chaired the opening ceremony of t...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday lauded the “steadfast” Pakistan–China friendship, maintaining that Beijing has supported Islamabad in an “unwavering fashion unmatched in the annals of history”. The premier was addressing a ceremony in Islamabad to mark the 75th anniversary of Pakistan–China diplomatic relations. The prime minister began his speech by extending felicitations to the Chinese leadership and people on behalf of the government and people of Pakistan. “Seventy-five years ago, our founding fathers laid the foundation of our bilateral diplomatic relations,” he said, adding: “Pakistan was the first Muslim country to recognise China and one of the first countries in the world to do so.” “Through our mutual efforts and endeavours, and above all, sincerity of purpose, we have built a relationship that is second to none and very unique in the world,” he said. He said that throughout these 75 years, the Chinese leadership and people have stood with Pakistan like a “solid rock”. “Earthquakes, flood...

As United States President Donald Trump showered ​praise on his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Friday, the CEOs of several US aviation, commodities, technology, and finance conglomerates looked to ‌advance their business interests by meeting the heads of powerful Chinese regulators and ministries. These include GE Aerospace, Boeing, Qualcomm, Cargill, Visa, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup, who held talks with the leading officials of Chinese government agencies such as the commerce ministry, state planner, securities regulator, and central bank, according to official government statements and state-backed media reports published on Friday and Saturday. The US ​executives travelled to Beijing as part of the business delegation Trump brought to China. They stood behind Trump’s cabinet on Thursday morning as they ​were each introduced to Xi, and later in the evening mingled with Chinese officials and businesspeople at a state banquet. The executives ⁠are hoping the political goodwill generated by the bonhomie be...

US President Donald Trump hailed “extremely positive” talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday, in remarks made at an opulent banquet in Beijing attended by top leaders and American business figures, including Elon Musk and Tim Cook. His trip to Beijing is the first by a US president in nearly a decade, with the grand reception belying a host of unresolved trade and geopolitical tensions between the two countries. The two leaders rounded off the first full day of a closely watched summit in the Chinese capital with the banquet in a red-carpeted dining room in the lavish Great Hall of the People, abutting Tiananmen Square. “There are those who say this may be the biggest summit ever,” Trump told Xi after a ceremony that featured an honour guard and throngs of children waving flowers and flags at the Great Hall. Trump also said he had invited Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, to visit the White House on September 24. Live images streamed before the leaders arrived showed a jovial atmosphere, with s...

United States President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Beginning the first visit to China by a US president in nearly a decade, Trump touched down on Air Force One at Beijing Capital International Airport at 7:50pm (4:50pm PKT) after the long flight from Washington. Ructions over Iran, trade and Taiwan loom over the highly anticipated meeting between the leaders of the world’s largest economies, which Trump had already delayed from March because of the war in the Middle East. But Trump appeared firmly focused on business deals, with Nvidia chief Jensen Huang boarding the plane at the last minute in Alaska and Tesla’s Elon Musk also travelling on the presidential jet. Trump was welcomed by Chinese dignitaries, a tightly choreographed formation of military honour guard and dozens of Chinese students waving US and Chinese flags as he disembarked Air Force One in the waning hours of twilight. Pausing midway down the red carpet as the students chanted “...

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said Beijing will “firmly support” Myanmar in safeguarding its national sovereignty and security, in a meeting with junta chief-turned-president, Min Aung Hlaing. Wang has been on a three-country visit to Southeast Asia this week, travelling to Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, seeking to strengthen ties in the face of “risks” and present Beijing as a more stable alternative to the United States. Beijing supports Myanmar “in forging a successful development path that aligns with its national conditions and enjoys the support of its people”, Wang told Min Aung Hlaing during a visit to capital Naypyidaw, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout published late on Saturday. “As this year marks the first year of the new Myanmar government’s tenure, both sides should seize this opportunity to carry forward and promote their traditional friendship, [and] open up new prospects for bilateral relations,” Wang said. Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as president this month, continuing his ru...

Dozens of Chinese-made humanoid robots showed off their fast-improving athleticism and autonomous navigation skills as they whizzed past ​human runners in a half-marathon race in Beijing on Sunday, highlighting the sector’s rapid technical advances. The race’s inaugural edition last year was riddled with ‌mishaps, and most robots were unable to finish. Last year’s champion robot recorded a time of 2 hours 40 minutes, more than double the time of the human winner of the conventional race. This year’s contrast was stark. Not only had the number of participating teams increased from 20 to more than 100, but several robot frontrunners were noticeably faster than professional athletes, beating the ​human winners by more than 10 minutes. Unlike last year, nearly half of the robot entrants navigated the tougher terrain autonomously instead of being directed by ​remote control during the 21-km (13-mile) race. The robots and 12,000 men and women ran on parallel tracks to avoid collisions. The winning ⁠robot, developed...

Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to avoid any escalation in their armed conflict, during talks hosted by China in recent days, Beijing said on Wednesday. “Representatives from China, Afghanistan and Pakistan held a week of informal meetings in Urumqi, Xinjiang, from April 1 to 7,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said. The three delegations “engaged in frank and pragmatic discussions in a positive atmosphere”, she said at a regular news conference in Beijing. According to the spokeswoman, Afghanistan and Pakistan stated “their commitment to resolving their differences as soon as possible and realising a return to normalcy in bilateral relations, agreeing not to take any actions that would escalate or complicate the situation”. The Foreign Office (FO) has not issued any official statement on the matter yet and declined to comment on the development when approached by Dawn. Since Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan in late February, diplomatic co...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is set to visit Beijing today, following reported progress in regional diplomacy after a four-nation meeting held in Islamabad.

US President Donald Trump said it was dangerous for Britain to be getting into business with Beijing, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer lauded the economic benefits of resetting relations with China during a visit there on Friday. As Western leaders reel from Trump’s unpredictability, Starmer is the latest to head to China. In three-hour talks with President Xi Jinping on Thursday, the British leader called for a “more sophisticated relationship” with improved market access, lower tariffs and investment deals while also discussing football and Shakespeare. From left, Zheng Zeguang, Chinese ambassador to to Britain, Ren Hongbin, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ge Haijia on January 30, 2026. —Reuters In Washington, however, replying to questions about the closer ties, Trump said, “Well, it’s very dangerous for them to do that.” He was speaking to reporters ahead of the premiere of the “Melania” film at the Kennedy Center. He did not ...

ISLAMABAD - Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, on Tuesday met Chair­man of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China, Zhao Leji, in Beijing.

A parliamentary delegation led by the Speaker National Assembly of Pakistan, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, on an official visit to China, held a meeting with the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, Zhao Leji, in Beijing.

Beijing has rejected New Delhi’s claim over the Shaksgam valley in Kashmir and said that the territory “belongs to China”. At a press conference on Monday, when asked by the Press Trust of India (PTI) for comment on the Indian criticism of China’s infrastructure development projects in the Shaksgam valley, China‘s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said that it was “fully justified” for China to conduct infrastructure construction “on its own territory”. “The territory you mentioned belongs to China,” she said. India’s foreign ministry spokesperson had on Friday said that it reserved the right to take necessary measures to safeguard its interests as the Shaksgam valley was “an Indian territory”. “We have never recognised the so-called China-Pakistan boundary agreement that happened in 1963. We have consistently maintained that the agreement is illegal and invalid,” he said at a press conference in response to a question from India’s state-owned public television broadcaster Doordashan. The Indian spokespe...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday held meetings with senior Chinese officials in Beijing, focusing on further strengthening bilateral relations, according to the Foreign Office (FO).

Islamabad - Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar will co-chair two-day seventh round of the China–Pakistan Strategic Dialogue commencing in Beijing on Sunday (today).

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday arrived in Beijing to co-chair the seventh round of the Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue, which is scheduled for January 4 (Sunday), the Foreign Office (FO) announced in a post on X. In an earlier statement, the FO said the foreign minister will be the “first foreign dignitary to visit China in 2026“, at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, with whom he is co-chairing the dialogue. In the X post, the FO said that Dar was received at the airport by China’s Special Representative on Afghanistan, Ambassador Yue Xiaoyong, Pakistan’s Ambassador to China and officials from the Pakistani Embassy. “DPM/FM will also attend events marking the beginning of the 75th year of Pakistan-China diplomatic ties, with both countries planning initiatives and commemorative activities throughout 2026,” the post added. The FO has said that the dialogue “will review the full spectrum of bilateral cooperation, identify new areas of part...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar has departed for China to co-chair the seventh round of the Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue, scheduled to be held in Beijing on January 4, 2026, the Foreign Office said on Tuesday.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will visit Beijing to co-chair the seventh round of the Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue, which is scheduled to be held on January 4, 2026, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Wednesday. According to the FO, Dar will be visiting Beijing at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. It said that the dialogue was the “highest consultative mechanism between Pakistan and China, providing a structured platform to review the entire spectrum of bilateral cooperation, as well as regional and international developments of mutual interest”. It added that during the dialogue, the two foreign ministers will also announce a series of initiatives and commemorative activities to mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. “The visit forms an important part of the regular high-level exchanges between the two countries and reflects their shared determination to broaden and deepen the all-weather ...

New Delhi has asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is an “integral part” of India in response to Beijing’s claim over the territory as the two countries rowed over the detention of an Indian citizen at Shanghai Airport. On Tuesday, India had issued a demarche to China over the detention of Prema Wangjom Thongdok, a UK-based woman from Arunachal Pradesh, at the Shanghai airport. Thongdok had said immigration officials had held for 18 hours and “mocked” her by saying the region was not a part of India. China says Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing calls Zangnan, is a part of South Tibet — a claim India has repeatedly dismissed. Beijing has renamed places in the northeastern Himalayan state multiple times, prompting strong reactions from New Delhi. Responding to queries during a press briefing on Tuesday, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning had said that “Zangnan is China’s territory”. “The Chinese side has never recognised the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ illegally set up by India,” she said. She further s...