China and Pakistan yesterday reaffirmed their traditional
friendship and growing economic ties with a raft of agreements.
The signing of 13 deals, witnessed by Premier Wen Jiabao and visiting Pakistani Prime
Minister Shaukat Aziz, cover a wide range of fields including
economic and technical collaboration, mutual legal assistance,
taxation, space science, education and the construction of
cross-border cable system.?
The two countries also inked another 15 deals witnessed by
ministers from both countries including the construction of a new
airport in Gwadar, Pakistan and an automobile plant in the
country.
During the meeting, Wen said the Sino-Pakistani relationship has
entered a new stage, reiterating China's commitment to the policy
of deepening mutually beneficial cooperation with its "all-weather
friend."
According to the consensus reached by the two leaders, China and
Pakistan will actively implement the bilateral free trade agreement
and the five-year development program on economic cooperation to
speed up talks on promoting trade in services.
The two sides also agreed to expand people-to-people exchanges
and strengthen cooperation in jointly fighting "East Turkistan"
terrorist forces and cross-border crime.
Last November, President Hu Jintao became the first Chinese president to
visit Pakistan in a decade and the two countries agreed to boost
strategic partnership in all areas.
Aziz, on his second visit to China in three years, will also
visit Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, where he will inaugurate a
Pakistani consulate general and visit the air design complex where
Pakistan and China are collaborating on the manufacture of JF-17
fighter jets.
He will also visit Haikou, capital of South China's Hainan Province, to attend the annual Boao
Forum for Asia on Saturday.
(China Daily April 18, 2007)
