During his official visit to China after attending the SCO Summit, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif held a series of high-level meetings with senior executives of China’s leading enterprises in Beijing. The discussions focused on expanding cooperation in priority sectors including textiles, information technology, agriculture, industry, mines and minerals, road and digital connectivity, e-commerce and space technologies.
During the meetings, the Prime Minister informed about the comprehensive reforms and measures undertaken by the government to stabilize and strengthen Pakistan’s economy. These include tax incentives for investors, streamlined visa policies for Chinese nationals and the establishment of dedicated booths at major airports to facilitate ease of travel and business. He further underlined Pakistan’s commitment to a whole-of-government approach through the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), which has emerged as a key platform for accelerating investment, addressing bottlenecks and strengthening B2B cooperation.
The Prime Minister emphasized that industrial cooperation remains the cornerstone of Pakistan-China economic cooperation and a defining pillar of the high-quality development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as it enters into its second phase. He invited Chinese companies to consider Pakistan as their preferred investment destination, particularly for relocating industries into Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Pakistan, he noted, offers a unique comparative advantage with a large pool of skilled and cost-effective labor, competitive input costs and strategic connectivity to regional and global markets.
Prime Minister Sharif assured Chinese business leaders that Pakistan is committed to providing a conducive business environment and facilitating win-win industrial partnerships. Separately, Shehbaz Sharif directed Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to establish simple, robust and sustainable infrastructure at Islamabad’s under-construction hospitals, including Jinnah Medical Complex, to deliver high-quality medical facilities, modeled on China’s standards.
The prime minister, during his visit to Beijing’s Anzhen Hospital, instructed to prioritise the high-quality facilities at Pakistan’s under-construction hospitals, on the pattern of the Chinese system.