ISLAMABAD – China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will reach Pakistan tomorrow(Friday) to hold talks with the country’s new leadership to consolidatecooperation and elevate the all-weather bilateral strategic partnership.

This is the first high-level visit by a Chinese official to Islamabad sincethe new government of Prime Minister Imran Khan assumed office after theJuly 25 elections.

The three-day visit by Wang, who is also designated as the State Councillorwhich makes him the top diplomat of China, comes two days after that of USSecretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo met new PM Imran, COAS Qamar Bajwa, Foreign Minister Shah MehmoodQureshi and others. Safeguarding Pakistan’s national interests will remaina supreme priority, the foreign office said in a statement after themeeting.

Announcing Wang’s visit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunyingtold the media that besides holding talks with Foreign Minister ShahMehmood Qureshi, he would also meet top leaders of the new Pakistangovernment and exchange views on bilateral ties, regional and internationalissues of mutual interest.

“This is the first high-level visit between the two sides after theestablishment of the new government in Pakistan. We hope that through thevisit the two sides could consolidate our traditional friendship, all-roundcooperation and elevate China-Pakistan all-weather strategic andcooperative partnership,” she said when asked about China’s expectationsfrom the visit from September 7-9.

“China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic and cooperative partners. Weare good neighbours, good friends and good brothers. Our bilateral tieshave been developing with sound momentum. We have frequent high-levelexchanges, practical cooperation moving forward and rich outcomes from theChina-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),” she said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday congratulated Pakistan’snewly-elected President Arif Alvi, saying the strategic significance of thebilateral ties is “more prominent under the current circumstances” and bothsides should support each other “more staunchly”.