ISLAMABAD, May 15: China has assured Pakistan of continued participation of Chinese firms in infrastructure projects, particularly, in power and railways.

This assurance, according to a message received here, was given to the Finance Minister, Shaukat Aziz, at a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Mr. Jin Renqing on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the Asian Development Bank in Jeju Island, South Korea.

China, Mr Jin said, was prepared to support Pakistan, particularly in infrastructure development. In this regard, the Chinese government was always supportive of its public and private sector entities to play a major role in the economic development of Pakistan, he stated.

The Chinese Finance Minister reminded Aziz of the recent initiative of his ministry to approve a credit line of $500 million as buyers' credit which will enable Pakistani importers to lift goods on credit for sale in a Pakistani market already inundated by Chinese goods.

He advised the Pakistan Finance Minister to maintain close liaison with the Chinese side so that the two countries could frequently exchange information on the developments in their respective economics and share their experiences.

Earlier, Aziz informed the Chinese Minister about the Chinese private sector investment in various industrial fields, especially automobiles. This reflected the awareness among Chinese entrepreneurs of the investment opportunities and marketing opportunities in Pakistan.

Referring to the recent marketing of two cellular licences, which fetched nearly $300 millions each, the minister assured his counterpart that more and more investment opportunities would be emerging for foreign investors.

He would be very happy to see Chinese investors increasing their presence in Pakistan, he added.

The government, Aziz further stated, was working hard to meet the challenges of growth, job creation, good governance and physical social infrastructure development.