Companies from China's violence-prone region of Xinjiang have signed deals worth about two billion dollars with Pakistan, during a visit to Pakistan by Xinjiang's Party chief Zhang Chunxian ,who sought to strenghthen relation with an important security partner.
In return, China will get a free trade zone in Pakistan's Gwadar port and access to the Arabian Sea.
New Pakistani roads will open up routes for Chinese goods into Europe and the Middle East from landlocked Xinjiang, which borders Pakistan.
During a four-day visit to Pakistan, Xinjiang's Communist Party chief Zhang Chunxian met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, visited Islamabad, Karachi and Gwadar, reports the Dawn.
The 2 billion dollar agreements covered infrastructure, solar power and logistics, among other projects, signed by companies from Xinjiang with their Pakistan counterparts, the newspaper said, without giving details.
China and Pakistan call each other 'all-weather friends' and their ties have been underpinned by long-standing wariness of their common neighbour, India.
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While meeting Sharif the two countries agreed to continue working together to fight terrorism, strengthen border controls, maintain regional peace and stability and ensure the economic corridor projects are protected.
Zhang also met Pakistan's military on the trip.
Hundreds of people have been killed in unrest in Xinjiang in the last few years.
Pakistan has last year agreed energy and infrastructure projects worth 46 billion dollars with China to set up the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.