Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar announced that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled for an official visit to China from May 23 to May 26. The trip will feature a dynamic business-to-business (B2B) forum aimed at strengthening commercial relations between the two countries.
The announcement came during the inauguration of the IBI Pakistan Digital Economy Headquarters in Islamabad, a platform symbolizing the robust Pakistan-China alliance and marking a new era of digital collaboration. Last year, PM Shehbaz spent five days in China, where he met with Chinese leaders and participated in the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State Summit held in Tianjin. Both nations reiterated their dedication to enhancing their longstanding strategic partnership during that visit.
In his keynote speech, DPM Dar described the launch of the IBI headquarters as a pivotal milestone in the Pakistan-China All-Weather Strategic Partnership. He highlighted PM Shehbaz’s vision of positioning Pakistan as a regional center for digital innovation. The partnership is evolving from traditional physical infrastructure projects like the Karakoram Highway and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) energy initiatives towards advanced sectors including artificial intelligence, information and communication technology (ICT), and digital connectivity.
“We are transitioning from roads to networks, from physical infrastructure to digital frameworks,” the deputy prime minister explained. “The digital Silk Road is being constructed today, starting with the establishment of the IBI headquarters in Islamabad.” Under the expanded CPEC 2.0 framework, cooperation is extending beyond conventional areas into digital transformation, smart city development, and climate resilience.
Sharing positive economic trends such as declining inflation, increasing GDP, and reduced policy interest rates, DPM Dar reaffirmed the government’s commitment to guiding Pakistan towards becoming a top-20 global economy. He emphasized that with the world’s fifth-largest population and a burgeoning youth demographic, Pakistan is no longer waiting to realize its potential but has already reached a stage of significant IT capabilities and international competitiveness.
Welcoming Beijing United Information Technology (IBI) to Pakistan, he noted that the company’s platform supports millions of enterprises across 100 industrial sectors in China, signaling strong global confidence in Pakistan’s economic prospects. He also praised Pakistani Ambassador to Beijing Khalil Hashmi for effectively facilitating B2B forums, mentioning that 30% of the $10 billion worth of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed during recent China visits have been converted into finalized projects.
Earlier, Ambassador Hashmi described IBI as the e-commerce giant for industrial goods, comparable to Amazon and Alibaba in consumer goods. He pointed out that IBI is a Fortune 500 company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The launch of IBI’s headquarters represents a significant opportunity, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan, providing access to an extensive Chinese market covering agriculture, aquaculture, and industrial products, as well as a gateway to global markets through China.
Hashmi added that by deepening digital industrial cooperation and aligning government and corporate resources, IBI has successfully transformed high-level leadership directives into concrete outcomes. “We are witnessing the convergence of two transformative forces: the enduring friendship between Pakistan and China and the unstoppable rise of the digital economy,” he said.
The event also featured addresses from Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Haroon Akhtar Khan.
