Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto in Guangzhou on maiden visit to China

Bilawal Bhutto to hold talks with Wang Yi

Pakistan's new Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi will hold talks on Sunday in the Chinese city of Guangzhou to firm-up the all-weather ties between the two countries.

This is Mr. Bilawal's maiden visit to China after he took over as Foreign Minister following the fall of Imran Khan government.

Their meeting was being held in Guangzhou as Beijing is currently under semi-lockdown to contain the fast-spreading Omicron variant of the COVID-19.

"Landed in Guangzhou on my first bilateral visit. Today also marks 71st anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and China. Looking forward to meeting Chinese State Councilour & Foreign Minister Wang Yi for in-depth discussions on Pakistan-China relations", Mr. Bilawal tweeted.

The 33-year old, whose mother Benazir Bhutto and grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto were former prime ministers, is just back from New York where he held talks with the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and discussed strengthening the U.S.-Pakistan relations which deteriorated during the previous Imran Khan regime.

In his interviews to the media after his talks with Mr. Blinken, Mr. Bilawal ruled out that Pakistan's growing relationship with the U.S. would hurt its ties to Beijing.

Mr. Bilawal is accompanied by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and senior officials, Pakistan state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency reported earlier.