Chinese premier congratulates new Pakistani prime minister

Photo released by Pakistan's Press Information Department (PID) shows Shahbaz Sharif (R) taking the oath as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan during a ceremony held at the President House in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan on April 11, 2022. (PID/Handout via Xinhua)

BEIJING, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday congratulated Shahbaz Sharif on his election as Pakistan's prime minister.

In a congratulatory message, Li said China and Pakistan are unique all-weather strategic cooperative partners, adding that bilateral relations and friendship have experienced great changes, and have always been rock-solid and unbreakable. In the face of profound and complex changes in international and regional situation and amid the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, China and Pakistan have helped each other to overcome difficulties, and the ironclad China-Pakistan friendship continues to grow, he noted.

Li said he looks forward to working together with Shahbaz to carry forward the two countries' traditional friendship, consolidate mutual political trust and promote the high-quality construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Meanwhile, Li expressed willingness to deepen the all-round, pragmatic cooperation between the two countries and speed up the process to forge an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, which will not only benefit the peoples of the two countries and also be conducive to regional and global stability and development.

Li also expressed his belief that Pakistan will accomplish new achievements in promoting national stability, development and progress.