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Pakistan’s newly elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif began his maiden trip to China on July 3. He met with Chinese President Xi Jinping， Premier Li Keqiang as well as financial and corporate leaders in a six-day trip that included visits to major industrial centers.
How would the two neighbors seek to renew their friendship following the reshuffling of both countries’ governments？ Sharif shared his thoughts on strengthening bilateral relations and furthering cooperation on the economy and security with Beijing Review special correspondent Zhou Jinglu in Islamabad before heading to China. Excerpts follow：
Beijing Review： Do you think the political mutual trust between China and Pakistan is reaching a new level？
Nawaz Sharif： The Pakistani-Sino relationship is handed down from one generation to another. Since we have an excellent relationship， whoever comes and goes in the government doesn’t make any difference. The relationship and friendship between our countries keep moving on and strengthening.
We were very happy to welcome Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Pakistan in May. I was not even in office at that time， but we had a very good meeting and discussed a number of issues that we wanted to collaborate on with each other.
Pakistan and China have done a lot of projects together. We have an excellent partnership in the fields of business， industry and investment. You will see much more coming up in the next few years.
What measures will your government take to deepen cooperation with China， particularly in the economic area？
The most important of all is the Pakistan-China economic corridor， which is a project that will change the fate of the region. Now the management of Gwadar has been handed over to China. We expect that Gwadar is going to become a very im- portant economic hub or a very important port in the Arabian Sea. Of course， this is also beneficial to China.
The economic corridor taking off from Kashgar to Gwadar is a game changer as far as this region is concerned. This is the subject that we discussed together with Premier Li in May. There is an agreement on undertaking a joint project， and I have sent a team headed by Ahsan Iqbal， Federal Minister for Planning and Development. They went to Beijing at the end of June and had a wonderful session with their Chinese counterparts. Both sides are very interested in moving ahead with this project.
We want to cooperate with each other in a variety of fields， such as energy and infrastructure. I have met with representatives from one or two Chinese companies in Islamabad. We want to work together to set up a coalbased project to produce electricity， and a solar-based project to produce energy. China is quite keen on supplying these projects to Pakistan. At the same time， in the field of infrastructure， we would like to build motorways in Pakistan. I am quite happy to hear that Chinese companies are willing to do that for Pakistan. We have been talking about high-speed trains and we will be discussing this issue as well in China.
If all these things materialize， the trade volume of the bilateral economic cooperation will perhaps total over hundreds of billions of dollars. Now is the time for both sides to move forward at a fast speed， so we can seize the potential which exists between the two countries.
If you look at the past， we had relationships in almost every field. We are very proud of this joint venture and joint partnership of collaboration in these two different spheres.
Also， there is a great potential for Pakistan and China to extend the cooperation and collaboration into Central Asian countries and countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. About 3 billion people could benefit from such cooperation.
Earlier you mentioned Gwadar Port. How do you respond to allegations that the joint project “undermines the interests of third parties”？
We don’t have to worry too much about these false accusations if we remain dedicated to our goals and objectives.
Two Chinese mountaineers were among the 11 people killed in a pre-dawn terrorist attack in north Pakistan on June 23. Do you have any detailed plans to strengthen the security of Chinese institutions in Pakistan？
First of all， let me express my deep condolences about the tragic deaths of the Chinese and other foreigners in the northern areas of Pakistan. We feel very sorry about the people who lost their lives. My heart goes out to all their families. It was an incident we will never forget.
Pakistan has paid a very heavy price as far as the loss of lives is concerned and as far as terrorism is concerned. More than 40，000 people in my country have lost their lives， which include armed forces， policemen， administration officials and ordinary people.
Our economy has suffered a lot as well. I think more than $100 billion has been lost because of terrorism in Pakistan. It has also hampered Pakistan’s efforts to establish a climate suitable for foreign investment.
One of our priorities is to improve the security situation， improve law and order and eliminate the violence in Pakistan.
We are going to put specific emphasis on anti-terrorism. I think in the coming weeks and months， you will see improvements on this particular issue. Of course， it is our duty to provide every possible protection to Chinese people who are working in Pakistan， so that such incidents will not happen again.
An increasing number of Chinese enterprises have shown a great interest in investing overseas in recent years. In which aspects can Chinese and Pakistani enterprises cooperate with each other？
There are many fields like energy and infrastructure as I mentioned previously， as well as textile and engineering. Moreover， Pakistani businessmen are quite keen on seeking cooperation with their Chinese counterparts， whether they come from state or private sectors.
We have a lot of industries in Pakistan which are Pakistan-China collaborative projects. We encourage them to conduct business with China. I’m happy to see us come up with Chinese cooperation and collaboration in every city and every region.
We are going to have a special economic zone all along the Pakistan-China economic corridor， where businessmen from both countries can invest in different industries. They can do it either on their own or together. It is very pleasing to see that the cooperation is going on steadily and is increasing day by day.
It is very important to both countries， and also very important to 3 billion people in the region. I’m going to take the bullet train from Beijing to Shanghai. And I hope one day there will be a railway network from Karachi to Peshawar. With the corridor， the travel time to reach the Gulf for east Chinese cities like Shanghai will be reduced to just four or five days.
Besides politics and the economy， do you have any suggestions for exchanges in culture and tourism？
Yes， we want to promote collaboration in culture and tourism. Similar to China， Pakistan also has a lot to offer in the field of tourism. We would like to set up a joint venture in tourism and culture with China.
How would the two neighbors seek to renew their friendship following the reshuffling of both countries’ governments？ Sharif shared his thoughts on strengthening bilateral relations and furthering cooperation on the economy and security with Beijing Review special correspondent Zhou Jinglu in Islamabad before heading to China. Excerpts follow：
Beijing Review： Do you think the political mutual trust between China and Pakistan is reaching a new level？
Nawaz Sharif： The Pakistani-Sino relationship is handed down from one generation to another. Since we have an excellent relationship， whoever comes and goes in the government doesn’t make any difference. The relationship and friendship between our countries keep moving on and strengthening.
We were very happy to welcome Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Pakistan in May. I was not even in office at that time， but we had a very good meeting and discussed a number of issues that we wanted to collaborate on with each other.
Pakistan and China have done a lot of projects together. We have an excellent partnership in the fields of business， industry and investment. You will see much more coming up in the next few years.
What measures will your government take to deepen cooperation with China， particularly in the economic area？
The most important of all is the Pakistan-China economic corridor， which is a project that will change the fate of the region. Now the management of Gwadar has been handed over to China. We expect that Gwadar is going to become a very im- portant economic hub or a very important port in the Arabian Sea. Of course， this is also beneficial to China.
The economic corridor taking off from Kashgar to Gwadar is a game changer as far as this region is concerned. This is the subject that we discussed together with Premier Li in May. There is an agreement on undertaking a joint project， and I have sent a team headed by Ahsan Iqbal， Federal Minister for Planning and Development. They went to Beijing at the end of June and had a wonderful session with their Chinese counterparts. Both sides are very interested in moving ahead with this project.
We want to cooperate with each other in a variety of fields， such as energy and infrastructure. I have met with representatives from one or two Chinese companies in Islamabad. We want to work together to set up a coalbased project to produce electricity， and a solar-based project to produce energy. China is quite keen on supplying these projects to Pakistan. At the same time， in the field of infrastructure， we would like to build motorways in Pakistan. I am quite happy to hear that Chinese companies are willing to do that for Pakistan. We have been talking about high-speed trains and we will be discussing this issue as well in China.
If all these things materialize， the trade volume of the bilateral economic cooperation will perhaps total over hundreds of billions of dollars. Now is the time for both sides to move forward at a fast speed， so we can seize the potential which exists between the two countries.
If you look at the past， we had relationships in almost every field. We are very proud of this joint venture and joint partnership of collaboration in these two different spheres.
Also， there is a great potential for Pakistan and China to extend the cooperation and collaboration into Central Asian countries and countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. About 3 billion people could benefit from such cooperation.
Earlier you mentioned Gwadar Port. How do you respond to allegations that the joint project “undermines the interests of third parties”？
We don’t have to worry too much about these false accusations if we remain dedicated to our goals and objectives.
Two Chinese mountaineers were among the 11 people killed in a pre-dawn terrorist attack in north Pakistan on June 23. Do you have any detailed plans to strengthen the security of Chinese institutions in Pakistan？
First of all， let me express my deep condolences about the tragic deaths of the Chinese and other foreigners in the northern areas of Pakistan. We feel very sorry about the people who lost their lives. My heart goes out to all their families. It was an incident we will never forget.
Pakistan has paid a very heavy price as far as the loss of lives is concerned and as far as terrorism is concerned. More than 40，000 people in my country have lost their lives， which include armed forces， policemen， administration officials and ordinary people.
Our economy has suffered a lot as well. I think more than $100 billion has been lost because of terrorism in Pakistan. It has also hampered Pakistan’s efforts to establish a climate suitable for foreign investment.
One of our priorities is to improve the security situation， improve law and order and eliminate the violence in Pakistan.
We are going to put specific emphasis on anti-terrorism. I think in the coming weeks and months， you will see improvements on this particular issue. Of course， it is our duty to provide every possible protection to Chinese people who are working in Pakistan， so that such incidents will not happen again.
An increasing number of Chinese enterprises have shown a great interest in investing overseas in recent years. In which aspects can Chinese and Pakistani enterprises cooperate with each other？
There are many fields like energy and infrastructure as I mentioned previously， as well as textile and engineering. Moreover， Pakistani businessmen are quite keen on seeking cooperation with their Chinese counterparts， whether they come from state or private sectors.
We have a lot of industries in Pakistan which are Pakistan-China collaborative projects. We encourage them to conduct business with China. I’m happy to see us come up with Chinese cooperation and collaboration in every city and every region.
We are going to have a special economic zone all along the Pakistan-China economic corridor， where businessmen from both countries can invest in different industries. They can do it either on their own or together. It is very pleasing to see that the cooperation is going on steadily and is increasing day by day.
It is very important to both countries， and also very important to 3 billion people in the region. I’m going to take the bullet train from Beijing to Shanghai. And I hope one day there will be a railway network from Karachi to Peshawar. With the corridor， the travel time to reach the Gulf for east Chinese cities like Shanghai will be reduced to just four or five days.
Besides politics and the economy， do you have any suggestions for exchanges in culture and tourism？
Yes， we want to promote collaboration in culture and tourism. Similar to China， Pakistan also has a lot to offer in the field of tourism. We would like to set up a joint venture in tourism and culture with China.