Chinese Premier Li Keqiang?held talks with?visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) 2014 on Thursday.

Premier Li appreciated Prime Minister Nawaz?Sharif’s participation at the Boao Forum and reiterated the high priority attached by China to its relationship with Pakistan. He expressed commitment towards deepening strategic cooperative partnership with Pakistan.

Li also thanked Pakistan for its consistent and strong support on issues relating to China’s core interests including the fight against terrorism, extremism and separatism. China would continue to strongly support Pakistan’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. He acknowledged sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in fighting terrorism and extremism and assured China’s full support against these menaces.

Congratulating Premier Li Keqiang and Chinese leadership on the successful holding of the 14th BFA, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif highlighted that the Boao event was a demonstration of China’s willingness to assist and guide the developing countries in their pursuit of harmonious growth and shared prosperity.

Describing Pakistan’s friendship with China as an exemplary inter-state relationship, Sharif stressed that Pakistan attaches the highest priority to its relations with China.

Reviewing the whole range of bilateral relations, the two leaders focused on enhancing connectivity between China and Pakistan and agreed that expanding economic and trade cooperation, promoting economic integration, fostering economic development of the two countries would not only benefit China and Pakistan but also transform the whole region.

Prime Minister Sharif urged Premier Li to encourage Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan, especially in energy and infrastructure.

Premier Li, terming the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a common vision of the leadership of the two countries, expressed satisfaction on the progress made in the Corridor Project. He hoped that the Corridor would soon start to take practical shape and yield tangible benefits, within the time frame agreed upon between the two countries. In this regard, he urged the relevant authorities to continue their efforts to achieve concrete results.

The two leaders reiterated the resolve to translate the high level of mutual trust and cooperation in political sphere of their bilateral relations into practical project oriented cooperation for shared prosperity of the two countries.