Pakistan inks $8.5B pacts with Chinese firms

By Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) -Pakistan has signed several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) worth $8.5 billion with Chinese firms in an array of sectors, state media reported.

Chinese and Pakistani firms on Thursday signed $7 billion worth of MoUs and $1.54 billion joint venture agreements, totaling $8.5 billion, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

The MoUs were signed in sectors such as agriculture, electric vehicles, solar energy, health care, chemicals and petrochemicals, as well as iron and steel, during the second Pakistan-China B2B investment conference in Beijing, it added.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called these agreements a "long march of economic growth," which would lead to investment opportunities and more jobs, during his speech at the event.

He also announced the formal launch of “CPEC 2.0” (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor), which will focus more on business-to-business (B2B) investments in agriculture, employing 60% of Pakistanis, IT and AI, minerals, and industrial relocation.

With the CPEC agreement, signed in 2015, Pakistan "became energy self-sufficient," Sharif said.

Sharif also assured Chinese investors that there would be no bureaucratic delays for their investments.

“We will not tolerate a second’s delay. I recently ensured that a Chinese entrepreneur was facilitated within 24 hours. That’s the level of commitment I am talking about,” Sharif said.

“Pakistan is your second home, just as China is ours,” he said to investors.

"Our relationship with China is unmatched, higher than the Himalayas, deeper than the deepest oceans, sweeter than honey, and stronger than steel," said the Pakistani prime minister.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also attended the event, among others.

On Tuesday, Sharif met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who hoped Pakistan would take adequate measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, projects, and institutions in Pakistan.

Sharif on Thursday said that the "safety of Chinese citizens is paramount."

Since establishing diplomatic ties in 1950, Beijing and Islamabad have described their relationship as an “all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.” China has become Pakistan’s largest arms supplier, while bilateral trade volume surpassed $23 billion in 2024.