奇速英语

习近平主席访问巴基斯坦

China’s President arrived in Pakistan on Monday for a two-day visit. President Xi Jinping and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held talks on trade and other issues in the capital, Islamabad. The two sides signed agreements for $46 billion of investments in energy and infrastructure projects. Chinese and Pakistani officials were also set to talk about action against fights and unrest in Afghanistan.

Before Mr. Xi’s arrival, Pakistani state television broadcast programs praising Pakistan’s friendship with China. During his visit, the Chinese leader is to receive Pakistan’s highest civilian award, the Nishan-e-Pakistan. He will also speak to Pakistan’s parliament.

Pakistan has called China its “all weather” friend. Some observers accuse the United States, a major foreign aid and ally of Pakistan, of basing its relationship on individual issues and actions.

Both countries want to discuss the China Pakistan Economic Corridor during the visit. The corridor is a system of roads, railroads, and gas and oil pipelines linking southwestern China to the Pakistani port of Gwadar. China wants to renew the ancient Silk Road. The goal is to expand road and sea links between southwest Asia and China from the time of the Han Dynasty.

Pakistan’s adviser on the economy, Sartaj Aziz, hopes new investments from China will help Pakistan’s economy. “So this investment over an 8-10 year period of $4 billion a year, would certainly step up the investment rate, GDP ratio as well as growth rate, which has somehow stopping increasing between three and four percent for the last seven, eight years.”

China’s ambassador to Pakistan, Sun Weidong, has noted increased cooperation between the two countries. He told Chinese state television that his country has established a joint agreement with Pakistan to protect their interests. He said that Pakistan will set up a special military force to protect Chinese workers. And it plans to support projects linked to the economic corridor.

President Xi is expected to meet with Pakistan’s military leadership. The meeting is expected to include a discussion of military operations in Pakistan’s tribal areas. It also will likely include discussions about security in neighboring Afghanistan.