AGENCIES
BEIJING, APRIL 20
Chinese president Xi Jinping arrived in Islamabad on Monday hailing Pakistan as an "iron friend" and bearing promises to invest more than £30 billion in the country.
Eight Pakistani Air Force jets escorted the Communist Party leader's plane as it entered the South Asian country's airspace, kicking off a two-day state visit that underlines both Beijing's growing ambitions in the region and the United States' receding influence there.
Behind the scenes, the sale of eight Chinese submarines to Islamabad is expected to be high on the agenda when president Xi meets with Mamnoon Hussain, his Pakistani counterpart.
However, much of the public focus will be on the creation of the so-called "China-Pakistan Economic Corridor" – a patchwork of major infrastructure and energy projects stretching more than 1,800 miles from the Pakistani port of Gwadar towards Kashgar in China's extreme northwest.
Pakistan hopes this massive injection of Chinese cash can boost its faltering economy. The corridor "will usher in a new era of development in Pakistan," Nawaz Sharif, the country's Prime Minister, said on Monday.
For Beijing the corridor is a crucial step towards accessing new markets, consolidating its influence in the region and improving security back home, particularly in the restive western region of Xinjiang.
China's Communist leaders are increasingly concerned about the migration of militant Islamists from Pakistan into Xinjiang, following a series of deadly incidents including a suicide attack on a market last May.
Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Pakistani parliament's defence committee, said the collaboration indicated Beijing's growing clout in the region.
"Pakistan, for China, is now of pivotal importance. This has to succeed and be seen to succeed," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Ahead of president Xi's arrival, officials in Pakistan, which is a long-standing ally of China, said he would be bringing deals worth $46 billion (£30.7 billion). That figure eclipses a $5 billion assistance package that was secured by Pakistan from the United States in 2010.
As Pakistani children showered the visiting president with rose petals on Monday, Chinese state media carried a series of hyperbolic reports commemorating his rare visit.
China and Pakistan enjoyed a "special, friendly and unshakable" relationship, Sun Weidong, Beijing's ambassador in Pakistan, was quoted as saying by Xinhua, China's official news agency.
The Economic Corridor would "not only benefit the Pakistani people but also contribute to development and prosperity of the whole region".
Xi Jinping's visit showed the "iron brotherhood" between Beijing and Islamabad, the diplomat added.
