Imran Khan in Beijing seeking bailout

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to seek financial assistance for his county his first official visit to China.

Imran Khan in Saudi Arabia last week. Picture: AFP

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to seek financial assistance for his county on his first official visit to China.

The former national cricket captain, who took office in Aug­ust, arrived in the Chinese capital yesterday, after securing $US6 billion from Saudi Arabia at the conference dubbed “Davos in the desert” to help fend off his country’s balance of payments crisis.

In a televised address last week, Mr Khan said he was hoping to secure additional financial packages from two other, unnamed, countries to reduce the size of a bailout from the Inter­national Monetary Authority.

Mr Khan will meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang during his five-day trip, which will take in Mr Xi’s import expo in Shanghai that starts on Monday. He is expected to address a trade seminar at the expo.

A key issue for discussion in Beijing will be the future of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a multi-billion-dollar energy infrastructure project connecting the western Chinese region of Xinjiang with the Arabian Sea through Pakistan and its port of Gwadar.

CPEC is a key project of Mr Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative.

During the election campaign, Mr Khan spoke out against alleged corruption in the financing of the project under former leader Nawaz Sharif. There have been concerns that the project will need to be scaled down in the light of Pakistan’s deteriorating financial position.

The country’s foreign debt has blown out from $US61bn in 2013, when China and Pakistan reached their initial agreement on the project, to $US95bn.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the CPEC was a project for the ­mutual benefit of both countries and would play an important role in driving Pakistan’s economic development.

He rejected suggestions that the debt being incurred by ­Pakistan to fund its side of the project were causing financial problems for the country.

“The assertion that the CPEC is causing financial and debt problems for Pakistan has been stirred up by some people every now and then,” he said.

“But the Pakistani side has already made it clear that debts incurred by the CPEC only account for a very small portion of Pakistan’s total debts and is not a reason why Pakistan is experiencing financial difficulties.

“If the two sides talk about the CPEC during the Prime Minister’s visit, it will be about how the two sides will work together to firmly advance the CPEC.”

A long-time aspirant to become Pakistan’s political leader, Mr Khan is faced with major challenges in trying to deal with the serious economic problems facing his country.

China is already the biggest lender to Pakistan, which has been to the IMF 13 times since 1980, the latest being for a $US6.6bn loan in 2013.

The IMF has reportedly told Mr Khan that if he wants more financial support, he will need to disclose all the details about the CPEC that has put pressure on him to seek more funding from other sources.