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ISLAMABAD: China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday to attend the sixth round of the Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue between the two countries, Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement, days after he held talks with India’s top political leadership.

The top Chinese diplomat arrived in India on Monday and met Foreign Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar as well as National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to hold talks regarding the countries’ disputed border in the Himalayan mountains. He later met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well.

Yi’s visit also comes months after a brief but intense military standoff between India and Pakistan in May, during which Islamabad deployed Chinese-made fighter jets and missiles against Delhi. India alleged that Beijing actively supported Pakistan’s military response.

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar received Yi after he arrived in Islamabad, the foreign office said.

“Mr. Wang Yi is visiting Pakistan to co-chair with DPM/FM the 6th round of Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue being held on 21 August 2025,” the foreign office said.

Institutionalized in 2017, the strategic dialogue provides a platform for high-level engagement on regional developments, reaffirmation of shared interests and coordination on multilateral issues between both neighbors.

Pakistan considers China a major investor and regional ally. China is Pakistan’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade exceeding $25 billion in recent years, and Chinese companies have already invested heavily in power, transport, infrastructure, and telecoms projects across the country as part of the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement on Tuesday that Yi’s visit is part of the regular high-level exchanges between Pakistan and China to further deepen their ‘All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership.’

It said the visit would also reaffirm support on core interest issues, enhance economic and trade cooperation, and reaffirm both nations’ joint commitment to regional peace, development and stability.

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of Chinese company Shandong Xinxu Group met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday, expressing interest in building a maritime industrial complex in Pakistan and constructing a green shipbreaking yard in the country, Sharif’s office said in a statement.

Shandong Xinxu Group Co., Ltd. is a high-tech energy enterprise integrating the renewable energy industry chain, including dedicated battery equipment, nuclear power equipment, urban wastewater treatment projects and renewable smart energy storage systems. According to its website, Shandong Group’s products have been exported to more than 40 countries and regions such as Pakistan, India, Tunisia and Belarus.

Business at the shipyard has declined in recent years as Pakistan navigates a tricky path to recovery from a prolonged macroeconomic crisis. The shipbreaking industry has also taken a hit due to worldwide calls to stop beach scrapping because of the danger and environmental damage from pollutants left to drain into the sea.

Sharif met Shandong Group’s delegation, led by its chairman Hou Jianxin in Islamabad, the PMO said. During the meeting, Sharif invited Chinese industries to invest in Pakistan, assuring them that the government will provide all possible facilities for the establishment of Special Economic Zones.

“Shandong is interested in establishing a maritime industrial complex in Pakistan,” the statement said. “The Chinese company will build a green shipbreaking yard in Pakistan.”

During the meeting, the two sides were also briefed that Pakistan has immense potential in the ship-breaking and ship recycling sectors.

Gadani in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province once used to be one of the world’s main destinations for end-of-life vessels. Here, old and decommissioned ships were regularly dismantled and their parts, especially steel, were recycled, reused or resold.

In June, Pakistan’s government approved Rs12 billion [$42 million] to transform the Gadani ship-breaking yard into a “model green facility” to reduce pollution and manage hazardous waste, the maritime affairs ministry had said.

During the meeting, both sides were also briefed that the Chinese enterprise aims to benefit from Pakistan’s potential in fishing, fish processing and in the processing of date fruits.

Pakistan has been pushing for foreign investment in its key economic sectors ever since it came to the brink of a sovereign default in 2023 before an International Monetary Fund loan program helped it avert the crisis.

Pakistan considers China a key regional, economic and strategic partner. Since 2013, Beijing has invested tens of billions of dollars in energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a major segment of China’s Belt and Road Initiative that aims to build land and maritime trade routes linking Asia with Africa and Europe.