Chinese | Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, during a meeting with the Chinese ambassador on Wednesday, stressed the need to follow up on memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed during a recent visit to China, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement. On May 24 in Hangzhou, the premier chaired the opening ceremony of the third Pakistan-China Business-to-Business (B2B) Investment Conference, which was focused on “charging infrastructure, battery energy storage and solar technologies, and pharmaceuticals”. Agreements and MoUs worth more than $7 billion were signed between the two sides at the conference to promote cooperation and investment in various sectors. The PMO, in the statement, said Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong called on the premier at PM House and congratulated him on Eidul Azha, with PM Shehbaz expressing gratitude for his “efforts to make the visit successful, in every aspect”. “While conveying his firm resolve to ensure the further strengthening of Pakistan-China All Weather Strategic Cooperati...

ISLAMABAD: Power Minister Awais Leghari said on Sunday that there had been “no sufficient outcome” of talks to secure discounts from Chinese power producers thus far, unlike over Rs3.5 trillion in savings secured through revised agreements with other independent power producers (IPPs) and public sector plants. In March, the government had informed a parliamentary panel that about Rs3.5tr in savings had been secured through revisions to power purchase agreements with 29 private and some state-owned power plants, spanning their three to 20-year terms. The move was aimed at reducing electricity rates. When Leghari was asked about negotiations with IPPs set up under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for tariff rationalisation during a press conference on Sunday, he said, “Sufficient outcome has not come out yet.” The minister explained that CPEC-related IPPs were set up under a framework. Under that framework, “we have been trying for concessions in the form of debt-reprofiling, but sufficient results h...

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 Friday welcomed the decision of Chinese technology firm IBI Group to establish its digital economy headquarters in Pakistan, saying the move would help strengthen economic cooperation and investment ties between Islamabad and Beijing.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday lauded the “historic” ties between Pakistan and China during a meeting with a Chinese business delegation. According to a handout from the Prime Minister’s Office, a high-level 11-member Chinese business delegation led by Qian Xiaojun, the founder, president and controlling shareholder of IBI Beijing United Technology, called on the premier. “While welcoming the delegation to Pakistan, the prime minister said Pakistan and China enjoyed historic ties and the two countries were all-weather strategic cooperative partners,” the handout said. He lauded the remarkable progress made by China under the visionary leadership of President Xi Jinping and said that he was looking forward to his visit to China later this month, it added. The prime minister welcomed the growing business-to-business engagement between the two countries and said it was particularly encouraging that IBI would promote digital economy cooperation, investment facilitation and industrial collaboration, it sa...

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...

The US State Department has ordered a global push to bring attention to what it says are widespread efforts by Chinese companies, including AI startup DeepSeek, to steal intellectual property from US artificial intelligence labs, according to a diplomatic cable seen by Reuters. The cable, dated Friday and sent to diplomatic and consular posts around the world, instructs diplomatic staff to speak to their foreign counterparts about “concerns over adversaries’ extraction and distillation of US AI models”. “A separate demarche request and message has been sent to Beijing for raising with China,” the document states. Distillation is the process of training smaller AI models using output from larger, more expensive ones as part of an effort to lower the costs of training a powerful new AI tool. This week, the White House made similar accusations. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. OpenAI has warned US lawmakers that DeepSeek was targeting the ChatGPT maker and the nation’s l...

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb appreciated China’s support in facilitating Pakistan’s engagements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, the finance ministry said on Friday. Aurangzeb arrived in the United States on Monday to participate in the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings 2026, taking place from April 13 to 18 in Washington, DC. The Spring Meetings bring together finance ministers, central bank governors, policymakers and development experts from around the world amid ongoing global economic uncertainty. While there, the finance minister held an important meeting with China’s Finance Minister Lan Fo’an on the sidelines of the meetings, the ministry said in a statement on X. During the meeting, he expressed deep appreciation for China’s “long-standing and unwavering bilateral support” to Pakistan, as well as the constructive role played by China’s Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in facilit...

China’s President Xi Jinping met Taiwan’s opposition party leader Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on Friday, telling the visiting delegation he had “full confidence” that Taiwanese and Chinese people would be united. Kuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Cheng is the party’s first leader to visit China in a decade, but her trip has sparked debate in Taiwan with critics accusing her of being too pro-Beijing. China severed high-level contact with Taiwan in 2016 after Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidency and rejected Beijing’s claims that the self-ruled island is part of its territory. Xi told Cheng as the two met on Friday that “the general trend of compatriots on both sides of the Strait getting closer, edging nearer and becoming united will not change”. “This is an inevitable part of history. We have full confidence in this,” Xi said during the talks carried by Taiwanese media. He also said China was willing to strengthen dialogue with groups in Taiwan, including the KMT, on the “common pol...

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday oversaw key agreements with Chinese companies for launching solar panel manufacturing in Lahore and sending 50,000 students to China for advanced vocational and industrial training.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met with Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zedong at the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad on Friday, where the two discussed matters pertaining to counter-terrorism, security cooperation and the Police Exchange Programme. The interior ministry posted on social media that Naqvi arrived at the embassy in Islamabad’s Diplomatic Enclave earlier today, where he was welcomed by the ambassador. It also shared a video of him being received by Jiang at the entrance. “Discussion on the overall situation of the region also took place in the meeting,” the ministry said. The interior ministry said it was decided to hold a business conference to address security issues faced by Chinese investors in Pakistan, according to the ministry. It elaborated that in the first phase, meetings will be held with the Chinese business community present in Pakistan; the second phase will involve meetings with those who are interested in investing in Pakistan. The interior minister also said that a Special Protection Unit...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif highlighted Pakistan’s constructive role in promoting de-escalation and regional stability while discussing the situation in the Middle East with Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zedong on Thursday. On Monday, Pakistan took centre stage in a coordinated diplomatic push alongside Turkiye and Egypt for de-escalation, as the trio appeared instrumental in securing a five-day pause of US plans to strike Iranian energy and power infrastructure, officials said, describing the effort as going beyond routine crisis management. A press release by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said that the Chinese ambassador called on the premier at the PM House today. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatemi, and the foreign secretary were also present, it said. PM Shehbaz appreciated China’s “steadfast economic support” and reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to advancing CPEC 2.0, “with a focus on agriculture, industrial co...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Chinese navies on Wednesday commenced joint navy exercise “ Sea guardian” Hosted by Pakistan navy in Arabian sea.

PARIS: Top US and Chinese economic officials launched a new round of talks in Paris on Sunday to iron out kinks in their trade truce and clear a smooth path for US President Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of March. The discussions, led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, are expected to focus on shifting US tariffs, the flow of Chinese-produced rare earth minerals and magnets to US buyers, American high-tech export controls and Chinese purchases of US agricultural products. The two sides began talks on Sunday morning at the Paris headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and were expected to continue on Monday, a Treasury official said. China is not a member of the club of 38 mostly wealthy democracies and considers itself a developing country. Before departing for Paris, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that US officials want to ensure stability in the relationship. “...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday underscored Pakistan’s resolve to provide a secure environment for Chinese personnel and investments in the country, according to a handout by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The development comes after Pakistan’s security forces launched an operation, dubbed Ghazab lil-Haq, against the Afghan Taliban after the latter launched unprovoked attacks along the border between both countries on Thursday. According to the PMO handout, PM Shehbaz held a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong at the Prime Minister’s House. During the meeting, both sides exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, agreeing to maintain close coordination and consultation to contribute to peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and beyond. The statement said that PM Shehbaz underscored Pakistan’s resolve to “provide a secure and conducive environment for Chinese personnel, investments, and institutions in Pakistan“. During the meeting, the pr...

The US Justice Department announced the arrest on Wednesday of a former Air Force fighter pilot who allegedly trained Chinese military personnel without authorisation. Gerald Brown, 65, was arrested in Indiana after having recently returned to the United States from China, where he had been since December 2023, a Justice Department statement said. He is accused of having “conspired with foreign nationals to provide combat aircraft training to pilots in the Chinese Air Force” without a required license from the US State Department, the statement said. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel posted on X: “Major story… the FBI and our partners have arrested a former US Air Force Pilot who was allegedly training pilots in the Chinese military.” Brown had a 24-year career in the US Air Force during which he “commanded sensitive units with responsibility for nuclear weapons delivery systems, led combat missions, and served as a fighter pilot instructor and simulator instructor on a variety of figh...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi held an “important meeting” with Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong in Islamabad on Thursday and told him that providing “maximum security” to Chinese nationals was Pakistan’s top priority. A press release issued by he interior ministry detailed the exchange that took place during the Chinese envoy’s visit to the ministry, where Naqvi also briefed him about the situation in Balochistan. The province saw a spate of attacks on January 31, which brought parts of the restive province to a standstill for several days while security forces carried out retaliatory action. Meanwhile, Chinese citizens and projects have also come under attack multiple times in Pakistan in the past, including in Balochistan. According to data shared by the National Counter Terrorism Authority in December 2024, as many as 20 Chinese citizens had been killed and 34 injured in terror attacks in the country from 2021 until then. During his meeting with Naqvi today, the Chinese envoy condemned the terrorist attac...

President Asif Ali Zardari has strongly condemned the bomb blast at a Chinese restaurant in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.

Nordic diplomats rejected US President Donald Trump’s claims of Russian and Chinese vessels operating near Greenland, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. There have been no signs of Russian or Chinese ships or submarines around Greenland in recent years, the FT said, citing two senior Nordic diplomats with access to NATO intelligence briefings. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and NATO did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. It is simply not true that the Chinese and Russians are there. I have seen the intelligence. There are no ships, no submarines, the FT quoted one senior diplomat as saying. Another Nordic diplomat said claims that waters around Greenland were crawling with Russian and Chinese vessels were unfounded, adding that such activity was on the Russian side of the Arctic. Trump has repeatedly said Russian and Chinese vessels are operating near Greenland, a claim Denmark disputes. He has not provided evidence to support it. Trump said on Friday the US mu...

Naqvi meets Chinese counterpart Wang in Beijing