Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit China and meet President Xi Jinping next week, foreign ministries of both countries said on Friday.

Sharif will visit China from June 4 to 8 at the invitation of his local counterpart Li Qiang. He will visit the southern and northern provinces of Guangdong and Shaanxi, she added.

Beijing is Islamabad’s closest regional ally, readily providing financial assistance to bail out its often-struggling neighbour.

China has inked more than two trillion dollars in contracts around the world under its Belt and Road investment scheme, with billions pouring into infrastructure projects in Pakistan.

“China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners and loyal friends,” Mao said, “China and Pakistan’s friendship has been tested by the times and is as solid as a rock and as stable as a mountain.”

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said: “China and Pakistan have had close high-level exchanges in recent years, and bilateral practical has advanced steadily.”

During the three-segment trip, the prime minister will visit the cities of Xi’an and Shenzhen, besides Beijing, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at her weekly press briefing.

PM Shehbaz would also hold meetings with Chairman of Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji and heads of key government departments.

The spokesperson said that an important aspect of the prime minister’s visit would be meetings with corporate executives of leading Chinese companies dealing in oil and gas, energy, ICT, and emerging technologies.

In Shenzhen, she said that PM Shehbaz would address the China-Pakistan Business Forum with and visit economic and agricultural Zones in China.