Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif paid an official visit to China from June 4th to 8th. This is Shahbaz's first visit to China after his second election as Pakistan's prime minister in March this year. According to Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during his five-day trip, Shahbaz will visit Xi'an and Shenzhen in addition to holding talks with the Chinese leadership in Beijing. Pakistan's Tribune Express noted that Shahbaz is leading representatives from 79 Pakistani companies in the fields of industry, agriculture, mining, energy and information technology, who will meet and exchange views with Chinese entrepreneurs in the relevant sectors to discuss possible cooperation opportunities. Pakistani political analyst Muhammad Zamir told the Global Times on the 4th that Shahbaz's visit to China at the head of a large cabinet and business delegation shows that China-Pakistan relations have been elevated to a new height.

Shahbaz's trip will seek to boost cooperation on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, Reuters previously reported, citing Pak foreign ministry spokesman Mumtaz Balochistan. Speaking at a press conference, Baloch said, “The two sides will hold discussions on further strengthening the all-weather strategic partnership; upgrading the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor; boosting trade and investment; enhancing cooperation in the fields of security and defense, energy, aerospace, science and technology, and education; and promoting cultural cooperation and exchanges of humanities.” Balochistan mentioned that an important part of Shahbaz's visit was to meet Chinese business executives in the fields of oil and gas, energy, information and communication technology and emerging technologies. It is understood that Shahbaz will visit Shenzhen on April 4-5 and attend the China-Pakistan Business Conference.

“Pakistan wants to revive its economy amid hyperinflation and a debt crisis, and a tens of billions of dollars worth of economic projects are at the center of its ambitions.” Qatar's Al Jazeera 3 reported that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was officially launched by the two Asian countries in 2015, and that it includes a series of infrastructure projects such as the construction of the Gwadar port and a nationwide highway network in Pakistan. Many government figures and analysts in both countries believe that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will change Pakistan's economic landscape. Reports suggest that many of the projects in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor were initially successful, but in recent years, some of the projects have encountered considerable challenges to their recent progress due to Pakistan's own political, economic, security and other challenges. Now, the new Pakistani government is committed to re-promoting the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

In May this year, during the visit of Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dar to China, the two sides said that they would jointly promote the construction of the “upgraded version” of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. This visit is also considered to be for Shahbaz's visit to China to make preparations. Pakistan's Dawn newspaper said that Shahbaz is expected to sign more agreements with China during his visit. Muhammad Zamir told the Global Times, “The visit will solidify the foundation for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to enter its second phase, a project that is expected to bring huge economic benefits and create more jobs in Pakistan.”

As previously reported by Chinese media, China and Pakistan recently identified five new corridors for the second phase of the project at a meeting of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Joint Cooperation Committee (CPECJCC), including the Growth Corridor, the Livelihood Corridor, the Innovation Corridor, the Green Corridor and the Openness Corridor. The construction of these five new corridors is in line with Pakistan's economic development framework and will become a new growth engine for the common development of China and Pakistan. According to Pakistan's economic situation, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor's No. 1 railroad trunk line project will be constructed in phases to match Pakistan's economic development.

Pakistan's Minister for Planning, Development and Special Projects, Ahsan Iqbal, who attended the meeting, said that in the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) program, there will be less government involvement and more partnership between the Pakistani private sector and Chinese companies, Bloomberg reported. The shift is aimed at reducing some of the financial burden on Pak. According to a report in Dawn on April 4, Shahbaz requested at a special meeting held before the trip that the Pakistani government should formulate a more reasonable foreign investment policy and related reform programs to truly attract Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan and promote the development of Pakistani industries.

A number of foreign media outlets have noted that before Shahbaz's visit to China, the Pakistani side arrested 11 militants accused of involvement in the “3-26” Dasu hydroelectric power plant project terrorist attack, which resulted in the deaths of five Chinese engineers. The political news outlet Diplomatic Briefing commented that Beijing expects Islamabad to make a serious commitment to safeguard the lives of Chinese nationals in Pakistan. The Pakistani military is likely to step up its efforts to crack down on militants in the coming months.

Qian Feng, a researcher at Tsinghua University's Institute for National Strategic Studies, told the Global Times on April 4 that Prime Minister Shahbaz himself has been an active promoter and implementer of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and during this visit to China, it is expected that in addition to discussing further in-depth expansion of China-Pakistan economic and trade cooperation, both sides are also more likely to explore how to strengthen the security and protection of Chinese personnel under the current regional situation, including how Pakistan can enhance its In addition to discussing the further expansion of China-Pakistan economic and trade cooperation, the two sides are also expected to discuss how to strengthen the security protection of Chinese personnel in the current regional situation, including how Pakistan can enhance its counter-terrorism capacity and eradicate terrorism from its roots.