Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has said that Pakistan and China are entering a new phase of practical, people-centric and development-oriented cooperation.
He was talking to Party Secretary of CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, Wang Hao, in Hangzhou today.
The Prime Minister appreciated the remarkable development achievements of Zhejiang Province and praised visionary leadership of President Xi Jinping during his tenure as Party Secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, particularly the concept that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.”
He said Zhejiang’s development offered an important example of how ecological conservation, green development, and high-quality economic growth could advance in a mutually reinforcing manner.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan attached high importance to strengthening cooperation with Zhejiang Province, particularly in the fields of the digital economy, e-commerce, information technology, telecommunications, agriculture, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, and skill development.
He noted that provincial cooperation constituted an important pillar of Pakistan-China relations and could play a significant role in advancing CPEC Phase-II through industrial cooperation, agricultural modernisation, technology collaboration, and export-oriented development.
The Prime Minister also witnessed the signing of two cooperation documents.
The first was a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a sister-province relationship between Zhejiang Province and Punjab Province.
The MoU aims to promote cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, education, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.
The Prime Minister also witnessed the signing of a document of understanding between Hangzhou Normal University and the Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing for the establishment of the China-Pakistan Joint Technology Research Centre at the university.
The centre will promote academic cooperation, applied research, technology exchange, and institutional linkages between Pakistan and China.
