Li congratulates new Pakistan PM Shahbaz

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday congratulated Shahbaz Sharif on his election as Pakistan's prime minister, saying he looks forward to working with Shahbaz to carry on the traditional friendship between China and Pakistan.

In a congratulatory message, Li said China and Pakistan are unique all-weather strategic cooperative partners, and bilateral ties have always been rock solid and unbreakable.

Faced with profound changes in the international and regional situations, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries have further heightened their "ironclad" friendship by helping each other to overcome difficulties, Li said.

The premier also said he hopes to work with Shahbaz to consolidate political mutual trust, promote high-quality construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, deepen and expand bilateral pragmatic cooperation and speed up the process to forge an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.

Also on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China commends highly Shahbaz's remarks on the corridor's construction, and that it stands ready to work with Pakistan to continue the construction, and make the corridor a demonstration project of the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative.

In his maiden address to the National Assembly of Pakistan after his election, Shahbaz said that during his term he will work on the completion of the projects under the corridor's framework, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The Chinese embassy in Pakistan said Pang Chunxue, its charge d'affaires ad interim, met with Shahbaz in the Prime Minister's Office in Islamabad on Tuesday and conveyed China's congratulations on his being elected.

Shahbaz said during the meeting that Pakistan's new government attaches great importance to ties with China, and hopes to strengthen cooperation between the two countries and promote the construction of the economic corridor with greater efficiency, according to a statement issued by the embassy.