Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari holds talks with Wang Yi on maiden visit to China

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Pakistan's newly-appointed Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Sunday in the Chinese city of Guangzhou to firm up the all-weather ties between the two countries. This is Bilawal's maiden visit to China after he took over as foreign minister following the fall of the Imran Khan-led government last month.

Bilawal meets with the Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang in Guangzhou, Pakistan’s state-run APP news agency tweeted.

Their meeting was held in Guangzhou as Beijing is currently under semi-lockdown to contain the fast-spreading Omicron variant of the COVID-19.

"Landed in Guangzhou on my first bilateral visit. Today also marks the 71st anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and China. Looking forward to meeting Chinese State Councilor & Foreign Minister Wang Yi for in-depth discussions on Pakistan-China relations," Bilawal tweeted.

The 33-year-old, whose mother Benazir Bhutto and grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto were former prime ministers, is just back from New York where he held talks with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and discussed strengthening the US-Pakistan relations which deteriorated during the previous Imran Khan regime.

In his interviews with the media after his talks with Blinken, Bilawal ruled out that Pakistan's growing relationship with the US would hurt its ties to Beijing.

Bilawal was accompanied by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and senior officials, Pakistan state-run APP news agency reported earlier.

Bhutto Zardari's two-day visit marks the 71st anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China.

Pakistan-China relations

On May 21, 1951, Pakistan and China established diplomatic ties almost a year after India.

Close ties between Pakistan-China in the last four decades widely believed to be aimed at countering India remained steady despite the periodic political crisis in Pakistan leading to a change of governments including those by the military rulers.

In April, Bilawal's predecessor Shah Mehmood Qureshi during his visit to China had announced that Beijing has agreed to roll over USD 4.5 billion debt due to be paid by Pakistan this year.

During their talks, Bilawal and Wang will review the entire gamut of bilateral relations, with a particular focus on stronger trade and economic cooperation between Pakistan and China, Pakistan Foreign Office said on Friday.

(With inputs from PTI)

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