BEIJING: Pakistan and China on Saturday signed 15 agreements and documents to deepen bilateral cooperation in multiple spheres.

The documents were signed during the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to China at a ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People where the prime ministers of the two countries also held a bilateral meeting.

The ceremony was witnessed by PM Khan and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

From the Pakistan side, the documents were signed by Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Asad Umar, Planning Minister Khusro Bakhtiar and Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Masood Khalid.

Both countries signed an agreement to enhance agriculture and technical cooperation, cooperation bet­ween Islamabad Police and Beijing Police, Higher Edu­cation Commission of Pak­istan and Sci­e­nce Academy of China and between Pakistan Mete­orological Dep­­artment and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The two countries signed MoUs for cooperation on forests, earth sciences and poverty alleviation.

Pakistan and China also signed a document for holding strategic dialogue at the level of the foreign ministers of the two countries.

Chinese vice foreign minister Kong Xuanyou said that the two countries “will firmly move forward CPEC (China-Pakistan Eco­nomic Corridor), while ensu­ring the smooth operation of completed projects, and advancing the ongoing projects.”

Officials provided only a general list of the agreements, which appeared to be largely political, rather than economic.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2018