Chinese president confers friendship awards in Pakistan

Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping conferred friendship awards to Pakistani individuals and groups here Monday, commending the unremitting contribution they made for promoting the friendship between the two countries.

Accompanied by Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain, the Chinese president conferred the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Friendship Award on Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production Mushahid Hussain Sayed, who has long been promoting China in Pakistan, Chinese memorial park guardian Ali Ahmad Jan, who has been voluntarily guarding the park for 37 years since 1978, and Pakistan's former ambassador to China Masood Khan.

The National University of Modern Languages, which established the first Confucius institute in Pakistan, the All Pakistan China Friendship Association, which actively facilitates the two countries' people-to-people contact and cultivates Pakistani youths' affection to China, the National Management College, which promotes the communication between the governments and peoples of the two countries, and a Pakistani medical team, which participated in the Wenchuan earthquake relief in 2008, were also granted the award.

The Chinese president spoke highly of their steady conviction in China-Pakistan friendship and expressed his gratitude to people from all walks of life of Pakistan who devoted themselves to bilateral friendship.

Xi arrived here Monday for his first state visit to Pakistan and met Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The two countries have issued a joint statement and decided to lift bilateral ties to all-weather strategic partnership of cooperation.

Xi will give a speech in Pakistan's parliament on Tuesday. Endi