PM Shehbaz to undertake official visit to China from May 23 to 26: DPM Dar

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday announced that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would pay an official visit to China from May 23 to 26 and said the visit would include a vibrant business-to-business forum aimed at further strengthening trade ties.

Foreign Minister Dar made the announcement during the launch of IBI Pakistan Digital Economy Headquarters in Islamabad, describing it as a powerful symbol of the enduring partnership between Pakistan and China and a new chapter in digital collaboration.

He said the launch of IBI headquarters marked a transformative milestone in the All-Weather Strategic Partnership between Pakistan and China.

Highlighting Prime Minister Shehbaz’s vision of establishing Pakistan as a regional hub for digital innovation, he said Pakistan-China partnership was moving from physical infrastructure such as Karakoram Expressway and CPEC energy projects to smart infrastructure, artificial intelligence, ICT and digital connectivity.

“Today we are moving from roads to networks, from physical infrastructure to digital architecture. We are building a digital Silk Road, starting with the launch of the IBI headquarters in Islamabad,” he said.

DPM Dar told the meeting that under CPEC 2.0, cooperation was expanding beyond traditional sectors towards digital transformation, smart cities and climate resilience.

Sharing upbeat economic indicators, including a fall in inflation, a rise in GDP and a drop in political interest, he reaffirmed the government’s commitment to returning Pakistan to the roadmap to becoming a top 20 global economy.

With the world’s fifth largest population and a rapidly growing youth demographic, the deputy prime minister emphasized that Pakistan was no longer “biding its time” but had reached a stage of immense IT potential and global competitiveness.

Read more: Pakistan and China sign MoUs and joint ventures worth $13 billion over two years

He welcomed Beijing United Information Technology (IBI) to Pakistan, noting that its platform, which serves millions of businesses across 100 industrial sectors in China, reflects strong international confidence in Pakistan’s economy.

Foreign Minister Dar also praised the efforts of Pakistan’s Ambassador to Beijing Khalil Hashmi for professionally facilitating B2B forums, noting that 30% of the $10 billion in MoUs signed during recent visits to China had already been translated into completed projects.

Earlier, in his speech, Ambassador Khalil Hashmi explained that if Amazon and Alibaba were the e-commerce giants of consumer goods, IBI was the e-commerce giant of industrial goods.

He said IBI was a Fortune 500 company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Hashmi said the launch of IBI represented a huge opportunity, especially for Pakistan’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as it offered a gateway to a vast Chinese market (spanning agriculture, aquaculture and industrial products) and, through China, a pathway to the rest of the world.

He said that by deepening digital industrial cooperation and synchronizing government and corporate resources, IBI had successfully translated high-level leadership directives into tangible results.

“Today we are witnessing the convergence of two transformative forces: the enduring friendship between Pakistan and China and the unstoppable rise of the digital economy,” he added.

Information Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja and Special Assistant to Prime Minister Haroon Akhtar Khan also addressed the launch ceremony.

Last month, President Asif Ali Zardari also completed a five-day visit to China, during which both countries signed multiple memorandums of understanding (MoUs) aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation in desalination, agricultural technology and the tea industry. This measure is expected to boost investment, technology transfer and economic ties between the two countries.

The first MoU was concluded between the Government of Sindh and Lucion Environmental Technology Group to collaborate on a seawater desalination project in Karachi. The project aims to improve the city’s water supply by making seawater usable using modern technology.

The second MoU focused on cooperation in agricultural technology. Sharjeel Inam Memon signed it on behalf of the Sindh government and Chen Zhixin, president of Longping High-Tech Information Company, signed it for the Chinese side.

The third MoU, related to the tea sector, was signed between MESKAY & FEMTEE Trading Company, Hunan Tea Group and Jiaolong International Technology in Hainan.

In early January, Pakistan and China agreed to align their development strategies and build an upgraded version of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, known as CPEC 2.0, during wide-ranging talks in Beijing that also covered political ties, security cooperation, and regional and international issues.

As part of their economic engagement, Pakistan and China agreed to develop an enhanced CPEC, a pioneering project of the Belt and Road Initiative. The two sides said the new phase would focus on the key sectors of industry, agriculture and mining, promote the construction and operation of Gwadar port, ensure smooth passage of the Karakoram Highway and enhance Pakistan’s capacity for sustainable development.

They also agreed to deepen cooperation in trade and investment, information technology, science and technology, cybersecurity, technical and vocational training and education, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges. The two sides stated that the year-round opening of the Khunjerab Pass would facilitate two-way trade and further strengthen people-to-people contacts. They also welcomed the participation of third parties in CPEC cooperation in accordance with the modalities agreed upon by both countries.