Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan met with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang in Beijing Saturday, as he seeks aid and investment from the world’s second largest economy in hopes of staving off a financial crisis.
Before travelling to China — one of Pakistan’s firmest allies — Khan said he was striving to obtain financial aid from two unnamed countries after Pakistan secured $6 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia.
His government has also entered talks with the International Monetary Fund over a potential bailout as it grapples with a balance of payment crisis and current account deficit.
China is already a major investor in Pakistan, where the two countries are building the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion-dollar project at the heart of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious, globe-spanning trade infrastructure programme.
The corridor aims to increase energy and transport links between the western Chinese region of Xinjiang and the Arabian Sea via Pakistan.
However, given Pakistan’s deteriorating finances, there have been concerns in recent months that portions of the agreement may have to be scaled down.
