By IRNA
Islamabad : Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf embarks on a six-day state visit to China starting from Thursday to discuss bilateral relations, regional and international issues besides talks to further strengthen defence cooperation, the Foreign Ministry said.
President Musharraf will hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in the city of Sanya and will hold separate meetings in Beijing with Premier Wen Jiabao and other Chinese state leaders, Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said.
The President and the Chinese leadership will review the entire gamut of Pak-China bilateral relations besides discussing regional issues and international developments, he said.
The President will also be the keynote speaker at BOAO Forum for Asia. The theme for this year is “GREEN ASIA: Moving Towards Win-Win Through Changes”.
The President will meet other world leaders attending the BOAO Forum.
The President will visit Urumqi, the capital of the Muslim majority Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China and meet with Xinjiang leadership at the last leg of his visit.
The President will be accompanied by Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Minister for Defence Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar, the spokesman said.
“The visit at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao is part of regular high-level interaction between the two countries; reflective of close bilateral ties,” the Foreign Office spokesman said.
“The President’s visit will reinforce the all-weather, time-tested friendship between the two countries and further enhance and deepen our strategic cooperative partnership,” he said.
China is a major source of investment, trade and defence for Pakistan. Bilateral trade between the two countries has touched US 6.5 billion dollars.
Pakistan and China signed a free trade pact in 2006 and hope to raise two-way trade to $15 billion within the next five years.
On Monday, a Shanghai shipyard launched the first of four F-22P frigates to be delivered to Pakistan.
The fourth and last vessel will be completed at a Karachi shipyard in 2013.
The Pakistan Air Force has inducted into its fleet a fighter aircraft, called JF-17 Thunder, that is co-produced with China.