BEIJING, Jan 5 (Reuters) – China and Pakistan pledged on Monday to further deepen ties and expand cooperation, reaffirming to each other their historically “ironclad” friendship as signs of rapprochement between Islamabad and Washington grow.
Pakistan is one of China’s closest partners, diplomatically supporting Beijing on a wide range of internationally sensitive issues ranging from the status of Taiwan to Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong and the South China Sea.
In exchange, Beijing has poured billions of dollars into the South Asian country through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – a flagship project under China’s Belt and Road trade and infrastructure initiative.
But repeated Islamist militant attacks on Chinese nationals working on the CPEC and other projects in Pakistan have become a major source of tension in recent years.
Adding to the complexity in the Sino-Pakistani relationship, U.S.-Pakistani ties have warmed since President Donald Trump returned to the White House a year ago and landed a diplomatic victory in a region that China regards as within its sphere of influence.
Pakistan even said it would recommend Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for helping resolve a conflict it had with India.
In a joint statement on Monday, China and Pakistan said they would build an upgraded version of the CPEC, focus on their cooperation on industry, agriculture and mining, and step up collaboration in the financial and banking sector.
China then praised Pakistan’s “comprehensive measures” to protect the safety of Chinese personnel and projects, the statement read.
Both sides also called for more “visible and verifiable actions to dismantle and eliminate all terrorist organisations” entrenched in Afghanistan, which shares borders with both Pakistan and China. No details were given.
‘ALL-WEATHER STRATEGIC PARTNERS’
Pakistan is among an exclusive group of countries that China regards as an “all-weather strategic partner”, with close ties dating back decades.
The first premier of the People’s Republic of China, Zhou Enlai, once credited Pakistan as a bridge in normalising Beijing’s relations with the U.S. in the 1970s, with Islamabad often acting as a channel of communication between Beijing and the outside world at the time.
But warming U.S.-Pakistani ties since 2025 under the Trump administration are creating a counterweight to China’s so-called neighbourhood diplomacy with countries with which it shares a border.
Pakistan last March hailed its counter-terrorism cooperation with Washington after the arrest of Mohammad Sharifullah, whom it blames for a 2021 attack on U.S. troops at Kabul airport. Trump publicly thanked Pakistan for its role in the capture.
The Trump administration also released $397 million for a U.S.-backed programme in Pakistan that monitors use of F-16 fighter jets in counter-terrorism efforts despite Washington’s global freeze in foreign aid.
On Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar in Beijing to reaffirm the “ironclad friendship and strategic mutual trust” between the two neighbours.
“China and Pakistan will further promote their ironclad ties, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and continue to strengthen their strategic cooperation to break new ground,” the joint statement said.
(Reporting by Ethan Wang and Ryan Woo; editing by Christian Schmollinger and Mark Heinrich)
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