Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, along with his delegation, met Party Secretary of Shaanxi province Zhao Yide in Xi’an, China today and discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in various sectors, including trade, technology, agricultural and cultural exchanges.

The two sides reaffirmed commitment to further deepen Pakistan-China strategic cooperation, including through promotion of B2B linkages and cultural exchanges.

They agreed to strengthen local and provincial level cooperative partnerships between Pakistan and China for mutual prosperity.

Underscoring Xi’an’s historical significance as a center of cultural and economic exchanges between the East and the West in the Ancient Silk Road, the Prime Minister emphasized continued collaboration between Pakistan and Shaanxi province in people-to-people exchanges particularly in the culture, tourism and education domains.

 He also underlined the need to leverage sister-city relationships of Xi’an with Lahore and Multan through practical cooperation at city-to-city level.

The Prime Minister said CPEC is growing from strength to strength with a focus on high quality development in the second phase.

The two sides agreed to strengthen economic cooperation through joint ventures in agriculture, bio-pharmaceuticals, automobile manufacturing, mining, chemicals and textiles sectors.

Secretary Zhao briefed the Prime Minister on the historical significance of Shaanxi province and provided an overview of Shaanxi’s economic and social development highlighting its status as one of the fastest growing regions of China.

The Prime Minister said China’s phenomenal development and support to the developing countries is an inspiration for Pakistan. He invited the state owned and private enterprises from Shaanxi province to benefit from the investor friendly policy framework and regulatory measures in Pakistan.