ISLAMABAD: China and Pakistan are set to conclude another $10 billion worth of deals on Saturday, the latest signings on a trade focused trip to South Asia for Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Business leaders are scheduled to formalise deals in Islamabad, adding to the $20 billion deals inked on Friday.
Boosting trade and investment have been the main focus of what has been the first visit in five years by a Chinese premier to Pakistan.
Pakistan regards China as its closest ally and the deals are seen locally as incredibly important to the economy, which was dealt a massive blow by catastrophic flooding this year and suffers from sluggish foreign investment.
Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the countries signed 13 agreements and memorandums of understanding on Friday in fields ranging from energy to railways, from reconstruction to agriculture and culture.
Kaira said China had promised to fund “all the energy projects of Pakistan,” which he termed a “major breakthrough”. The country is suffering from a debilitating energy crisis and produces only 80 percent of the electricity it needs.
“China will provide assistance in 36 projects in Pakistan to be completed in five years,” he said. “Basically this is a five-year development plan.”
Although not specifically mentioned, behind-the-scenes talks are also expected on China building a one-gigawatt nuclear power plant as part of Pakistani plans to produce 8,000 megawatts of electricity by 2025 to make up its energy shortfall.
Wen is set Saturday to inaugurate a cultural centre built as a monument to Pakistani-Chinese friendship, and is scheduled to hold talks with the Nawaz Sharif and senior figures in the military.
After the business leaders’ meeting, President Asif Ali Zardari is to host a state banquet, before Wen addresses a special joint session of parliament early Sunday.
“The outcome of the visit is beyond our expectations. It is an historic day,” Pakistan’s ambassador to Beijing Masood Khan said Friday.
Prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has expressed hope that trade will rise to between $15 and $18 billion over the next five years.
Before arriving in Islamabad, Wen visited India, where he and his 400-strong delegation inked deals that will see bilateral trade double to 100 billion dollars a year by 2015.
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19 Dec 2010
Source: reuters // Reuters
* China supports Pakistan's anti-terrorism efforts
* China is main supplier of defence and military hardware
By Kamran Haider
ISLAMABAD, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao lauded on Sunday Pakistan's efforts to battle al Qaeda, just days after the United States said its ally could do more to crack down on militants, especially along the Afghan border.
Wen's comments, made in a speech before parliament, appear part of China's strategy to lend support to old friend Pakistan, often criticised by the United States and many in the West as an unreliable, but necessary, ally in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"Strengthening and promoting strategic, brotherly relations is our joint strategic choice and they are in the interests of two countries and their people," Wen said, as he wrapped up a three-day visit to Pakistan.
Chinese leaders applaud Pakistan's efforts to fight al Qaeda -led terrorism, he added, urging the international community to "endose and support" them.
Pakistan's porous border with Afghanistan is seen as a haven for militants and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday that it needed to do more to control the flow of extremists, which a U.S. review of the Afghan war said was the main obstacle to ending the conflict.
While boosting trade and investment has been the main focus of Wen's visit -- the first in five years by a Chinese premier -- analysts say the trip is about more than money.
"It's a clear signal of China's growing, assertive diplomacy," said independent analyst Hamayoun Khan.
"They (China) do not want Pakistan to be entirely dependent on the United States and the International Monetary Fund, and then get dictation from them," Khan said.
"China's massive investment in this time proves two things. One is that China is a genuine ally of Pakistan, and second, it is a clear signal to the U.S. that if the U.S. supports India against China, China will support Pakistan."
During the visit, which followed a three-day trip to India, the two countries signed commercial and trade deals worth at least $25 billion. [ID:nSGE6BG05U]
By comparison, Wen signed $16 billion in deals in India before arriving in Islamabad on Friday.
Analysts say China is investing in Pakistan to such a large degree for two reasons: because it sees the country as a genuine friend, and because it irks India.
Sino-Indian relations have been dogged by long-standing border disputes, which led to a war nearly four decades ago. Since then, though, the world's two fastest-growing big economies have forged a major trade relationship over the years.
China is the main supplier of defence and military hardware to Pakistan. China has also helped Pakistan to build its main nuclear power generation facility and is helping build another one.
Pakistani diplomats like to refer to China as an "all-weather friend", whose needs -- strategic and economic -- fit in with what Pakistan wants and has to offer.
China wants to use Pakistan as a gateway to the Muslim world and as a new Silk Road for China's energy-hungry interior, as well as a balance against India's military rise.
Pakistan, in turn, plans to further rely on China for the bulk of its weapon systems, as a major investor for its ports and roads, and as a counterweight to American demands and conditions in the fight against Islamist militancy.
(Additional reporting by Chris Allbritton, editing by Miral Fahmy)
(For more Reuters coverage of Pakistan, see: http://www.reuters.com/places/pakistan)
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