ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in China on Saturday to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War in Beijing and other official engagements.

At Tianjin airport, the prime minister was received by Minister and Secretary of the CPC Committee of the General Administration of Customs of China and Yu Yunlin, Chairman and Party Secretary of the Standing Committee of the Tianjin Municipal People’s Congress, China’s ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zedong and Pakistan’s ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi.

The prime minister will address the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit to be held from Aug 31 to Sept 1.

During the visit, the prime minister will hold bilateral meetings with China’s President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

Strengthening bilateral and economic ties, CPEC’s 2nd phase and Pakistan’s stance on global issues are on agenda

PM Shehbaz will also interact with heads of prominent Chinese business entities and chair the second Pakistan-China B2B Investment Conference to be held in Beijing on Sept 4 to explore new avenues for strengthening trade and investment relations between Pakistan and China.

Besides, he will meet leaders of other countries attending the SCO Summit.

“I look forward to meeting H.E. President Xi Jinping and other world leaders to further build upon our bilateral ties with China, our All Weather Strategic Cooperative Partner, as well as with other key countries of the region,” PM Shehbaz said on X.

The premier said his goal is to “enhance regional cooperation, stren­gthen multilateralism, and advance shared goals for peace and prosperity”.

The prime minister is leading a delegation that includes Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, and Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, besides senior officials.

The SCO Council of Heads of State summit will gather leaders from member states China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.

According to a statement from the Foreign Office, the prime minister will address the summit to present Pakistan’s perspectives on regional and global issues and reaffirm the country’s commitment to multilateralism.

Leaders from Mongolia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkiye, Egypt, the Maldives, Myanmar and others, as well as the chief of the United Nations and heads of various regional and international organisations, will also attend as part of the expanded format.

A key focus of the visit is Pak-China economic partnership.

The visit is also expected to mark the formal launch of the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC-II), which focuses on industrial cooperation.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, the focal person for the initiative, said both sides are expected to “set clear priorities and agree on tangible, measurable outcomes”.

To further this economic agenda, PM Shehbaz will chair the second Pakistan-China B2B Investment Conference in Beijing on Sept 4 to explore new avenues for trade and investment.

The SCO summit is described as a powerful show of Global South solidarity as it’s the bloc’s largest meeting since its founding in 2001.

Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also arrived in Tianjin, marking his first visit to China in seven years and signalling a potential thaw in relations after a deadly border clash in 2020.

Other leaders, including Iranian and Turkish presidents Masoud Pezeshkian and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will also attend the summit.

Multiple bilateral meetings are expected to be held on the sidelines of the summit.

The Kremlin confirmed Putin will discuss the Ukraine conflict with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday.

He is also scheduled to meet with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program, a meeting that comes after Britain, France, and Germany triggered a “snapback” mechanism to reinstate UN sanctions on Iran.

With input from Agencies

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2025