Ambassador: Pakistan, China to hold series of activities marking anniversary of ties

Pakistan and China will hold a series of activities to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of ties between the two countries, according to Masood Khan, the Pakistani Ambassador to China.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will visit China next week to hold talks with Chinese leaders, and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will participate in the Euro-Asia expo to be held in the west Chinese city of Urumqi later this year. The Pakistani side is also expecting a visit from a senior Chinese leader in the second half of this year, the ambassador said.

He said that the two countries will send journalists, academics and students to each other for exchanges.

"All of these activities are important in terms of their symbolism and substance," he said.

Referring to the China-Pakistan relationship as an "all-weather and time-tested friendship", Khan said that economic cooperation between the two countries should be promoted.

"The volume of bilateral trade last year was 8.7 billion [U.S. dollars], but we are not satisfied with this. We want to take it to a higher target of 15 billion in the next two or three years, and we do not want to stop there," he said.

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