China said it will provide the “necessary support” to Pakistan to tide over the present financial crisis, expand CPEC projects as the two countries signed 16 agreements on Saturday after talks between Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang to boost their “all-weather” strategic ties.
Khan is here on his maiden visit to China as the two countries grapple to iron out differences over the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Islamabad approaching ‘friendly nations’ to avoid a tough IMF bailout package.
In his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, Khan in a candid admission said “unfortunately, our country is going through a low point at the moment with two very big deficits, a fiscal deficit and a current account deficit”.
Li, who held a ceremonial welcome for Khan, said “we have a high-level of political trust and close cooperation in all fields. Pakistan has always been regarded as a foreign policy priority by China”.
Thanking Li, Khan said: “the relationship between the two countries has deepened since then because the CPEC in 2013 was just an idea. Now it is on the ground. And it has caught the imagination of the people of Pakistan”. Pakistan sees China as a great opportunity to progress, attract investment, he said.
Once a CPEC critic during the previous Nawaz Sharif government, Khan said: the CPEC “gives us an opportunity to raise our standard of living, growth rate. You will see the difference because a lot has happened since 2013”.
