BOAO: Describing Pakistan's friendship with China as an exemplary inter-state relationship, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday stressed that Pakistan attaches the highest priority to its relations with China.
The prime minister, who is in China to attend the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) 2014, held a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the BFA.
During the meeting the PM urged Premier Li Keqiang to encourage Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan, especially in energy and infrastructure.
Both the leaders also discussed bilateral, regional and global issues.
Reviewing the whole range of bilateral relations, the two leaders focused on enhancing connectivity between China and Pakistan and agreed that expanding economic and trade cooperation, promoting economic integration, fostering economic development of the two countries would not only benefit China and Pakistan but also transform the whole region.
Congratulating Premier Li Keqiang and Chinese leadership on the successful holding of the 14th BFA, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif highlighted that the BFA was a demonstration of China's willingness to assist and guide the developing countries in their pursuit of harmonious growth and shared prosperity.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang appreciated Prime Minister Sharif's participation at the Boao Forum and reiterated the high priority attached by China to its relationship with Pakistan.
He expressed the commitment towards deepening strategic cooperative partnership with Pakistan.
Premier Li Keqiang thanked Pakistan for its consistent and strong support on issues relating to China's core interests including the fight against terrorism, extremism and separatism.
He said that China would continue to strongly support Pakistan's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
He acknowledged sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in fighting terrorism and extremism and assured China's full support.
The Chinese Premier, terming the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a common vision of the leadership of the two countries, expressed satisfaction on the progress made in the Corridor Project.
He hoped that the Corridor would soon start to take practical shape and yield tangible benefits, within the time-frame agreed upon between the two countries.
In this regard, he urged the relevant authorities to continue their efforts to achieve concrete results.
The two leaders reiterated the resolve to translate the high level of mutual trust and cooperation in political sphere of their bilateral relations into practical project-oriented cooperation for shared prosperity of the two countries.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was accompanied by Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi.