Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday concluded his state visit to Pakistan after the two neighbors lifted their ties to an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and signed over 50 cooperation deals.[Special coverage]
The trip to the South Asian country, the first leg of Xi's first overseas tour this year, testifies to the importance of the China-Pakistan relationship and marks a significant stroke of Beijing's neighborhood diplomacy.
Since the establishment of their diplomatic relations 64 years ago, China and Pakistan have forged an ironclad friendship. Now thanks to Xi's two-day visit, the two "iron friends" have begun upgrading their close relationship to an ever closer community of common destiny.
ALL-WEATHER STRATEGIC COOPERATIVE PARTNERSHIP
In Xi's talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday, the two countries decided to lift their relations to an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.
"The Chinese side highly values its relationship with Pakistan, and has always placed the relationship on a priority position on its foreign policy agenda," Xi told Sharif during the talks.
"China and Pakistan have always trusted, understood and supported each other, and are all-weather friends," said Xi, recalling that the two countries helped evacuate each other's citizens from war-torn Yemen not long ago.
For his part, Sharif said that the Pakistan-China friendship is the cornerstone of Pakistan's foreign policy, and the Pakistani people treasure the brotherly relationship with China.
Addressing a joint sitting of Pakistan's parliament on Tuesday, the Chinese president spoke highly of the all-weather friendship and all-dimensional cooperation between the two countries.
The two sides, he proposed, should constantly enrich the content of the China-Pakistan community of common destiny and shape it into a model for the building of an Asian community of the kind.
Meanwhile, he put forward a five-point proposal to usher in a new phase of bilateral relations, calling on the two sides to further boost strategic cooperation, pursue common development, carry on their long-lasting friendship, jointly address security challenges and strengthen coordination on international affairs.
