Pakistan Premier Sharif to pay state visit to China this week

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will pay a state visit to China on May 23-26, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Wednesday.

Addressing a Senate session, Dar, who also serves as deputy prime minister, said he would accompany Sharif during the visit.

According to him, the Pakistani premier will hold meetings with Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

Sharif is also expected to attend business-to-business meetings and participate in events marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China.

"We would also have meetings of two very important mechanisms -- one, the Pakistan-China political forum, and two, the CPEC joint consultative mechanism," Dar said, adding that a large multiparty parliamentary delegation from Pakistan would participate in several meetings in Beijing.

Beijing has not yet officially confirmed the visit.

A Chinese delegation led by Cai Dafeng, which arrived in Islamabad, was also present in the Senate during Dar's address.

Dar praised China's support for Pakistan and said both countries shared a "converging vision" on regional and global issues.

"China gave massive support in eliminating outages and load-shedding in Pakistan. We will always remain grateful to China," he said.