Chinese president meets Pakistani leader on bilateral ties

• Source: Xinhua
• [21:43 June 15 2009]
• Comments

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on June 15, 2009. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari and the two leaders agreed to push forward the China-Pakistan Strategic Cooperative Partnership.

China and Pakistan are close neighbors and the peoples of the two countries share deep traditional friendship, Hu said during his talks with Zardari ahead of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Russian Ural city of Yekaterinburg.

Pakistan is an observer nation of the group founded on June 15, 2001 which consists of Kazakhstan, China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The China-Pakistan friendship will grow ever more solid no matter how international or domestic situations of the two countries evolve, Hu said.

The basis of the China-Pakistan Strategic Cooperative Partnership, which features all-weather friendship and all-round cooperation, is the five principles of peaceful co-existence, as well as mutual understanding, trust and support on issues concerning each other's core interests, said Hu.

Currently, the China-Pakistan Strategic Cooperative Partnership has maintained a strong momentum of development and China always considers the development of relations with Pakistan as one of its diplomatic priorities, Hu said.

China always sees its relations with Pakistan from a strategic and long-term perspective, which is a strategic decision based on stable and sustainable development of the bilateral ties, said the Chinese president.

China is ready to further push forward trade and economic cooperation with Pakistan on the basis of equality and reciprocity and common development, Hu said.