October 01, 2008	Wednesday	Shawwal 1, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Sept 30: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will visit China in October.

Official sources told Dawn on Tuesday the president would leave for China on Oct 14 and the prime minister, who would leave on Oct 23, would represent Pakistan at the two-day Seventh Asia-Europe Summit to be held from the following day in Beijing.

The theme of the summit is “Vision and action — towards a win-win situation”. It will be Pakistan’s first participation in an Asia-Europe meeting at the summit level.

The sources said Prime Minister Gilani would meet leaders of China and of the participating countries on the sidelines of the summit.

Meanwhile, China’s Vice Foreign Minister and special envoy Wu Dawei, who called on the prime minister here on Tuesday, reaffirmed his country’s unequivocal support for Pakistan in all facets of bilateral relations.

He assured Mr Gilani of Chinese government’s resolve to forge ahead with its strategic partnership with Pakistan.

Mr Dawei said his country was proud of a friend like Pakistan and was keenly awaiting visits of the president and the prime minister.

He said China regarded Pakistan’s security and economic interests as its own and would help its friend in every possible way to overcome the threats of terrorism and extremism and its economic difficulties.

Mr Dawei said China respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan.

Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan enjoyed excellent, time-tested, all-weather, multi-dimensional relations with China and both countries had complete trust, mutual understanding and convergence of views on bilateral, regional and international issues.

He said President Zardari’s first official visit to China would open up new avenues of cooperation and would cement relations.

Recalling the contributions of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto in nurturing Pakistan-China relations, the prime minister said their friendship was a factor of peace and stability in the region.

He said that their relations had matured into a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership which was of great importance for Pakistan’s security and economic development and was vital for defending interests of both the countries.

The prime minister stressed the need for boosting cooperation in the field of nuclear power generation which was extremely important for economic development of Pakistan.

Mr Gilani hoped to discuss with the Chinese leadership measures to boost cooperation in the fields of energy, communication, environment, financial and banking sectors and steel and cement industries.