Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng meets COAS Gen Asim Munir

Visiting Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Monday met with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir, the military said in a statement.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), during the meeting, matters of mutual interest and defence cooperation were discussed.

The ISPR further said that both reiterated the desire to further enhance and strengthen bilateral relations in all fields.

China’s Vice Premier and one of President Xi’s close aides, He Lifeng, arrived in Islamabad a day earlier on a three-day visit to mark not only 10 years of CPEC but to discuss the next phase of the flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project.

Earlier in the day, six agreements and MOUs for the promotion of bilateral cooperation between China and Pakistan were signed in Islamabad.

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal and the vice chairman of the National Development and Reforms Commission of the People’s Republic of China signed the document and the signing ceremony took place at the PM House.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Chinese vice-premier witnessed the ceremony.

The first document was signed on the joint cooperation committee of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the second document was related to the establishment of an expert exchange mechanism within the framework of CPEC.

The third document was signed by the Secretary Ministry of National Food Security Zafar Hassan and the Chinese Charge D’Affaires Pang Chunxue for the export of dried Chillies from Pakistan to China.

Member Planning of National Highway Authority Asim Amin and Chinese Charge D’Affaires Pang Chunxue signed the fourth document on the realignment of the Karakoram Highway Phase II project feasibility study.

The two sides also signed through diplomatic channels the MOU on Industrial Workers’ Exchange Program and agreed to promote the strategic ML-1 project.

He Lifeng, 68, was named in March as a key government official overseeing China’s economy.

In his new role as the vice premier, he oversees everything from industrial policy to trade negotiations. He spent the past five years as the leading central planner of China’s economy.

The Chinese vice-premier has played a prominent role in China’s international economic relations and implementation of the BRI, of which CPEC is a flagship project.