China | Pakistan

Investor thinking on Chinese assets is changing, as steady returns through the turbulence of the Iran war and AI frenzy show how China has broken step with global markets, carving it a niche as a sandbag against volatility. The shift has brought money into the bond market and encouraged investors to seek out stocks with drivers distinct from global trends. “The role of China in portfolios is evolving from a simple emerging-market growth allocation toward a more nuanced source of diversification,” said Christopher Hamilton, head of client investment solutions for Asia Pacific ex-Japan at Invesco, a manager of about $2.2 trillion in global assets. “Diversification is ultimately about combining exposures that respond differently to economic and market conditions, and China is increasingly being assessed through that lens.” Since the Middle East conflict began at the end of February, China’s bond market has been the world’s strongest, and the yuan is the only major currency to have climbed against the dollar. The...

A Chinese submarine test fired a missile in the Pacific Ocean on Monday, Beijing said, after nations in the region warned that China was planning to test an intercontinental ballistic missile. It was a rare show of Beijing’s military might in the strategically important South Pacific region, where the US, Australia and New Zealand have long been the security partners of choice. The launch drew immediate condemnation from nations in the region, including Japan, which said it had urged China to reconsider proceeding with the launch. “At 12:01 pm on July 6, a strategic nuclear submarine of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy successfully launched a … strategic missile carrying a training simulation warhead into the relevant high seas of the Pacific Ocean, accurately landing in the designated sea area,” spokesperson Wang Xuemeng said in a statement posted on a Chinese navy WeChat account. “This missile test launch is a routine arrangement of China’s annual military training, and relevant countries were informed...

Pakistan and China co-organised an informal meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), providing a platform for the member states to discuss how the council “can ensure the full, effective and non-selective implementation of its resolutions,” the Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday. UN Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari, UNSC Report Executive Director Shamala Kandiah and Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group briefed the meeting held on Tuesday. They “emphasised that implementation lies at the heart of the Council’s credibility, authority and effectiveness”, the FO said. The speakers stressed that UN resolutions must be accompanied by “realistic mandates, clear implementation pathways, sustained reporting, adequate resources, political will and follow-up mechanisms” that can translate the resolutions into practical action on the ground. Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, who serves in the UN as the permanent representative of Pakistan, added that UNSC resolutions are legal obligation...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and China yesterday reaffirmed their close coordination and shared commitment to advancing diplomatic efforts aimed at supporting the Iran–United States peace process, as both sides reviewed recent progress following high-level mediated talks in Burgenstock under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

NEW DELHI: Top Indian and Iranian security officials met in New Delhi on Monday, the foreign ministry said, as security chiefs gathered for a BRICS meeting that also included China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi. India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met Iranian official Ghadir Nezamipour, a senior member of Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council, and discussed the “ongoing situation” in the Middle East, as well as India-Iran ties, the foreign ministry said. India has long maintained cordial ties with Iran but has had to carefully balance its relationship with the United States, especially during the recent weeks of conflict in the Middle East. India is heavily dependent on imported energy and its fuel supplies were hit hard during the US-Iran war. Russia, South Africa, Brazil round out summit presence Iran’s embassy in New Delhi said in a post on X that Nezamipour also met Wang, with whom he discussed the “implementation of the peace agreement” and expressed Tehran’s “appreciation for China’s politica...

Expected to sign 15-17 bilateral instruments in China

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is set to visit Malaysia and China on his first trip abroad since assuming office, the foreign ministry said on Saturday, bypassing neighbouring India as his inaugural destination. Rahman will visit Malaysia on Sunday before travelling to China the following day, Dhaka’s state-run BSS news agency reported, citing foreign ministry officials. In Beijing, trade and infrastructure projects will be on the agenda, according to the officials. Those could include Chinese support for the long-delayed Teesta project, a plan to restore and manage a key Bangladesh river through dredging, embankment construction and irrigation. “The visits are being viewed as a major diplomatic initiative aimed at strengthening Bangladesh’s economic partnerships,” BSS reported, citing the foreign ministry. Malaysia has an estimated 800,000 Bangladeshi workers, more than a third of its foreign workforce. Bangladeshi land is largely encircled by India, but relations have been strained since a 2024 ...

Indian engineers broke through the final rock section in the strategic Zojila tunnel through a Himalayan mountain on Tuesday, a milestone in providing all-weather access to the frontier Ladakh region with China. India and China, the world’s two most populous nations, are intense rivals competing for strategic influence across South Asia. Ties have thawed since a 2020 border clash, but their 3,500-kilometre frontier has been a perennial source of tension. The tunnel forms part of a broader infrastructure push, creating a link with roads and railways that will allow trade, troops and supplies to move year-round from India’s sweltering lowland plains to the soaring icy border zones. People ride a car through the Zojila tunnel, India’s longest road tunnel project connecting Jammu and Kashmir with the Ladakh region, in Minamarg on June 9, 2026. —AFP “This is not just a tunnel but a lifeline,” said India’s minister of roads, Nitin Gadkari, during a breakthrough ceremony on Tuesday at the high-altitude tunnel, which...

South Korea and the United States are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea (USFK), Seoul’s presidential office said on Saturday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say this week that he had “truly crossed the line”. The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington may seek to expand the role of USFK in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key ally of North Korea and Russia. Brunson last year also underscored South Korea’s strategic value in the broader Indo-Pacific, describing the US ally as a “fixed aircraft carrier” in the region, Yonhap reported. South Korea’s presidential Blue House said on Saturday that it was “aware of Commander Brunson’s recent series of public remarks” and that Seoul and Washington “have been maintaining communication at various levels r...

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth is the headline speaker at Asia’s premier defence summit opening on Friday, but China’s top officials are not expected, despite weighty questions like Taiwan and the war in Iran. Beijing’s defence minister is to skip the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore for the second year running, which analysts viewed as a sign of China’s rising power. Yet, the forum that brings together top officials from around 45 nations has historically provided a setting for debate as well as quiet and high-profile diplomacy. Defence Minister Dong Jun’s absence means no meeting there with Hegseth as China warns the US over its involvement with Taiwan and Washington seeks an end to the Middle East war. The Middle East was the source of 57 per cent of China’s direct seaborne crude imports in 2025 — 5.9 million barrels per day (mbd) — maritime tracking firm Kpler said. Hegseth’s second trip to the Shangri-La Dialogue comes after US President Donald Trump’s visit to China in May, and his subsequent sug...

China and Pakistan have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral military cooperation and strategic coordination, with the Chinese Defence Ministry describing the relationship between the two countries as an enduring iron-clad friendship. Speaking at the monthly press briefing on Thursday, Chinese Defence Ministry Spokesman Colonel Jiang Bin commented on the recent high-level exchanges between the two countries during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s official visit to China. Responding to a question regarding meetings between Chinese and Pakistani leaders and military officials, Colonel Jiang Bin said China and Pakistan were good neighbours linked by mountains and rivers, good friends who trust each other, good partners who support each other, and good brothers who stand together in difficult times. Colonel Jiang Bin highlighted the close military ties between the two countries and said practical cooperation has yielded fruitful results in the areas of strategic communication, joint exercises and...

Ishaq Dar said Pakistan believes in maintaining strong diplomatic relations with both the United States and China, describing balanced engagement with major powers as the essence of effective diplomacy.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday wrapped up his four-day official visit to China and departed for Pakistan after holding extensive discussions with the Chinese leadership aimed at further strengthening the long-standing strategic partnership between the two countries.

China and Pakistan have reached a new broad consensus on deepening their strategic partnership, according to a joint statement issued by the countries at the end of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Beijing. The statement, shared by the Foreign Office (FO) on X, said, “The two sides engaged cordially and reached a new broad consensus on further deepening the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and on international and regional issues of mutual interest.” The statement was issued as PM Shehbaz concluded his four-day visit to China. He was seen off by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying at the Beijing airport. The joint statement said that the two sides shared the view that the ties between the two countries were an “important wealth and a strategic asset”. “Throughout the 75 years of diplomatic relations, this friendship has remained rock solid no matter how the international and regional situations evolved, and the two countries have always trusted, respected and support...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said that China has become a model for the world and has no equal in terms of economic strength.

China launched its Shenzhou-23 mission on Sunday, which will see a Chinese astronaut spend a full year in orbit for the first time, a crucial step in Beijing’s ambition to send humans to the Moon by 2030. The Long March 2-F rocket blasted off in a cloud of flames and smoke on time at 11:08pm (local time) from the Jiuquan launch centre in China’s northwestern Gobi Desert, video from state broadcaster CCTV showed. The spacecraft separated from the rocket around 10 minutes later and entered orbit, the Chinese space agency (CMSA) said on social media. “The astronauts are in good condition, and the launch has been a complete success,” it added. The mission marks the first spaceflight ever undertaken by an astronaut from Hong Kong: 43-year-old Li Jiaying (Lai Ka-ying in Cantonese), who previously worked for the Hong Kong police. Other crew members include 39-year-old space engineer Zhu Yangzhu and 39-year-old Zhang Zhiyuan, a former air force pilot, who is travelling into space for the first time. Cheering crowds w...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled for a busy day in Hangzhou as he continues his visit to China.

HANGZHOU/ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Saturday that Pakistan and China are entering a new phase of practical, people-centric and development-oriented cooperation.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday landed in Hangzhou, kicking off his four-day official visit to China. Zhejiang province’s Vice Governor Xu Wenguang received PM Shehbaz at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport upon his arrival, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. China’s Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong and Islamabad’s envoy Khalil Hashmi were also present to welcome him. PM signs MOUs, meets provincial official Prime Minister Shehbaz signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a sister-province relationship between Zhejiang and Punjab during a meeting with Communist Party of China (CPC) Zhejiang Provincial Committee Secretary Wang Hao in Hangzhou. A statement issued by the government of Pakistan on X said that during the meeting, PM Shehbaz witnessed the signing of two cooperation documents, including the MoU on the establishment of a sister-province relationship between Zhejiang and Punjab. “The MoU aims to promote cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, educ...

Pakistan, China look to deepen trade, technology and strategic cooperation as ties mark 75 years