Nawaz Sharif arrives in China to attend Belt and Road Forum

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reached Beijing on Friday to participate in the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) forum, aimed at regional development.

Vice chairman of Beijing Municipal Chinese People Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Li Shixiang and China's ambassador to Pakistan Sun Weidong and senior government officials received Sharif at the Beijing International Airport, The Dawn reports.

The prime minister's entourage included four chief ministers - Shahbaz Sharif of Punjab, Pervaiz Khattak of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sanaullah Zehri of Balochistan and Murad Ali Shah of Sindh.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Railways Minister Saad Rafique, Minister for Planning Dr. Ahsan Iqbal, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir, and PM's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also accompanied the prime minister.

A part of the 'Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road' initiative launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) is being attended by 27 other heads of states or governments.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the flagship programme of OBOR.

Sharif will hold bilateral meetings with heads of state on the sidelines of the forum.

The OBOR initiative aims at building a new Silk Road linking Asia, Africa and Europe.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)