Pakistan, China vow to further strengthen friendly relations

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain met with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday and the two sides pledged to further strengthen bilateral cooperation.

During their meeting, Hussain hailed the firm friendship between the two countries and said Pakistan anticipates a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping at an early date, which would greatly promote the development of Pakistan-China relations.

The Pakistani president pledged his country would continue to firmly back China's stance on matters related to the country's core interests, including issues regarding China's Taiwan and Tibet.

Hussain expressed the wish for speedy construction of Pakistan-China Economic Corridor with China, adding that his country would firmly combat terrorism and spare no effort for the security of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan.

Pakistan is willing to enhance cooperation with China to push forward reconciliation and reconstruction in Afghanistan, added the president.

For his part, the Chinese foreign minister said China and Pakistan are friendly neighbors connected by same mountains and waters, and the two countries' destiny and interests are closely related. China-Pakistan friendship is always rock firm regardless of changes in the international and regional situation, and the two countries' leaderships had reached a consensus in forging a community of shared destiny, said Wang.

Wang said President Xi would pay a state visit to Pakistan at an early date this year, which would certainly bring China- Pakistan strategic cooperative partnership to a new level.

China and Pakistan should simultaneously boost pragmatic cooperation and security cooperation, and make them promote each other, said Wang, adding that the two countries should jointly fight all forms of terrorism, maintain common security, peace and stability in the region.

He also stressed that the two countries should strengthen people-to-people contact, especially friendly exchanges between youth, in order to pass China-Pakistan friendship from generation to generation.