Pakistani and Chinese firms have concluded cooperation agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoU) totalling $1.22bn as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visits China.
The deals span energy, technology, manufacturing and agricultural cooperation, reflecting Islamabad’s broader push to reorient its economic ties with Beijing away from large-scale infrastructure financing and towards direct industrial investment.
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Sharif arrived on 23 May for a four-day visit marking 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
Meeting Chinese business executives the following day, he urged firms to deepen their footprint in Pakistan’s renewable energy, electric vehicle and smart mobility sectors.
Pakistan’s information ministry, as reported by Arab News, said: “Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Governor Zhejiang Province Mr. Liu Jie witnessed the signing of MoUs and Agreements of cooperation between Pakistani and Chinese companies worth $1.22bn at the Pakistan China Business Conference held in Hangzhou.”
Discussions ranged across renewable energy systems, energy storage, EV charging infrastructure, pharmaceutical manufacturing and solar-linked technologies.
At an investment conference in Hangzhou, Sharif said Pakistan aimed to grow agricultural trade with China by $10bn over the next five to seven years.
He added that 1,000 agricultural graduates had been sent to China the previous year for advanced training in food security and modern farming techniques.
The agreements come as Pakistan works to stabilise its economy under a $7bn International Monetary Fund bailout programme.
Islamabad is also seeking to broaden its engagement with China beyond the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – the multibillion-dollar initiative launched in 2015 that funded roads, ports and energy facilities across the country.
China is Pakistan’s largest bilateral investor and has committed more than $65bn to infrastructure, transport and energy projects under CPEC, which forms part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The Beijing leg of the visit is expected to centre on industrial cooperation, regional security and strategic coordination between the two countries.
