Addressing the press after the fourth Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers’ strategic dialogue, Qin Gang said he hoped political forces in Pakistan would build a consensus to “uphold stability and more effectively address domestic and external challenges”.

“Stability is the premise for development which is in turn rooted in security,” Gang said.

He added that he hoped stability would lead to Pakistan being put on a fast track towards development.

“We firmly support the unity stability and prosperity of Pakistan,” the Chinese FM said.

“Given the current financial and foreign exchange pressure that Pakistan is under, China will take a close look at possible solutions and do our best to help Pakistan handle such pressure,” he said.

This is the new Chinese foreign minsiter’s first visit to Pakistan as work on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor enters its 10th year.

“The two Foreign Ministers underlined that Pakistan-China friendship was a historic reality and conscious choice of the two nations. As ‘All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partners’, Pakistan and China enjoy complete mutual trust, and their iron-clad friendship enjoys complete consensus in both countries,” a statement from the foreign office said.

“The Pakistani side expressed gratitude to the Chinese side for its economic and financial support, and its generous assistance package for post-floods reconstruction and rehabilitation.”

“Welcoming the completion of a decade of CPEC in 2023, the two sides hailed CPEC as a shining example of Belt and Road cooperation which has accelerated socio-economic development, job creation and improvement of people’s livelihoods in Pakistan,” the statement added, saying that both sides were committed to high-quality development of CPEC projects.