BEIJING, Oct 16: China vowed on Thursday to do what it could to help Pakistan avert financial disaster as President Asif Ali Zardari continued an official visit aimed at rustling up crucial Chinese investments.

The promise came during a meeting between Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and President Zardari.

The meeting focussed on further cementing strategic partnership between the two countries and Premier Wen said that bilateral relations and cooperation would witness improvement and depth with the passage of time.

“As a long friend of Pakistan, China understands it is facing some financial difficulties,” foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.

“We’re ready to support and help Pakistan within our capability.”

Pakistan and China had on Wednesday signed 12 agreements, memorandums of understanding and protocols to enhance cooperation on a sound footing in various sectors, including infrastructure, information technology, energy, telecommunication, agriculture, industry, minerals, trade, disaster relief and space technology.

The Financial Times newspaper has reported, without citing sources, that Mr Zardari would seek a soft loan of between 500 million and 1.5 billion dollars from China to help Pakistan avoid looming bankruptcy.

However, Mr Qin offered no specifics on the form that Beijing’s financial help would take.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Masood Khan said earlier this week in a TV interview that an agreement on a civilian nuclear pact with China could be reached during the trip.

But Mr Qin declined to give any details on the agreements made so far.

“I’m not aware of the specifics of the deals signed,” he said. China’s foreign ministry had earlier confirmed that the nuclear issue would be discussed but gave no specifics.

President Zardari also met Chairman of the National People’s Congress Wu Bangguo and vowed to explore new areas of cooperation while expanding interaction in the existing fields.

He said the deep ties got further strengthened during the Benazir Bhutto regime and hoped to further expand these into more areas with the visit.

The two leaders also discussed the strategic partnership and said it would further invigorate their ties.

The NPC chairman called for exploring new approaches to cooperation and enhancing exchanges and cooperation between industrial and business communities of the two countries.

The two leaders discussed the bilateral cooperation on politics, trade, science and technology and culture and agreed that it had injected a new vigour into China-Pakistan relations.

A joint statement issued on Thursday said that the two countries had agreed to propel the level of economic cooperation in diverse sectors on a fast trajectory as an important plank of comprehensive strategic partnership.

They also agreed to make continuous efforts to strengthen good-neighbourly relations and friendship, develop mutually beneficial cooperation and deepen strategic partnership of cooperation which served the fundamental interests of the two peoples and contributed to peace and development in the region.

Both sides opposed all forms of terrorism, extremism and separatism and resolved to cooperate with each other to fight these forces.

China conveyed its complete support to Pakistan’s commitment and efforts to fight terrorism and appreciated the sacrifices made by the government and the people of Pakistan in this regard.

The two sides agreed that economic cooperation was an important part of strategic partnership and both sides enjoyed great economic complementarity and should fully tap the potential and comprehensively deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in the economic field.

The two countries agreed to fast track the implementation of the five-year development programme on economic cooperation and make full use of the free trade agreement in goods and investment and Pakistan-China Joint Investment Company.

Both sides agreed that the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Good-neighbourly Relations signed in April 2005 was of great historic and immediate significance, laying a solid legal foundation for the long-term stable and healthy growth of China-Pakistan relations.

The two countries decided to abide by the policies and principles enshrined in the treaty, early implement the legal documents signed since the two countries established diplomatic ties and further intensify cooperation in the areas of economy, defence, science and technology and people-to-people contact.

China will continue to view its relations with Pakistan from a strategic and long-term perspective and make joint efforts to lift strategic partnership of cooperation to a new height.

Pakistan stressed that its relationship with China was the cornerstone of its foreign policy, and friendship with China represented the common desire of all Pakistani people. It praised the strong support and assistance provided by the government and people of China in its economic development.

According to the statement, President Zardari extended an invitation to President Hu Jintao to again visit Pakistan at his convenience and Mr Hu thanked Mr Zardari for the invitation.

Pakistan unequivocally upheld the one-China policy and considered Taiwan an inseparable part of the People’s Republic of China and supported all efforts made by the Chinese government to realise national reunification.

China appreciated Pakistan’s long-term and staunch support on issues concerning China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, reaffirmed its support for Pakistan’s efforts to uphold its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and praised Pakistan’s role in promoting regional peace, stability and security and strengthening international counter-terrorism efforts.

The two sides agreed to enhance cooperation to further develop and boost Pakistan’s mineral and energy sector as well as broaden financial and banking sector cooperation.

They agreed to enhance “connectivity” by developing new communication and links, including fibre optic links, and to explore the concept of integrated border management, overland trade and development of trans-border economic zones.

Both sides agreed to maintain communication and coordination on major international and regional issues to safeguard their common interests, besides continuing to cooperate closely on issues such as the reform of the United Nations, climate change and energy and food security to promote world peace and development.--Agencies