Pakistani PM To Visit China On April 9-11

Islamabad, April 5, IRNA -- Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will visit China on April 9-11 to attend a conference and meet the Chinese leadership, officials have said. The prime minister will participate in the 2014 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), to be held in China’s Hainan province from 9-11 April, at the invitation of the Chinese government. He would deliver a speech at the opening plenary of the BFA on 10 April, which would be inaugurated by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Later, he would join other world leaders, including the prime ministers of Australia, South Korea and Kazakhstan, at a banquet hosted by the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang The theme of this year’s BFA is Asia’s New Future: Identifying New Growth Drivers. Prime Minister Sharif would also make a keynote speech at a seminar on “Reviving the Silk Road” which would be attended by the leaders of China, Iran and Kazakhstan, the Foreign Ministry said. Besides attending the Forum, the prime minister would hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The two leaders would review the progress in bilateral ties- with particular focus on economic cooperation and the China- Pakistan Economic Corridor since their maiden official visits to each other’s countries last year, as well as President Mamnoon Hussain’s state visit to China in February 2014. Since its inception in 2001, the BFA has become the largest multilateral forum held annually under the auspices of the Chinese Government. The BFA’s themes are centered on the pursuit of win-win cooperation in Asia. The international profile of the Forum has risen rapidly, as it attracts a growing number of important political and corporate leaders from around the world with every passing year./end