BEIJING (AP) — Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan is preparing to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping amid growing concerns over Pakistan’s growing fiscal crisis and its ability to repay Chinese loans.
Pakistan has borrowed billions of dollars from China, which has pledged more than $60 billion in all to Pakistan in loans and investments for roads, ports, power plants and industrial parks.
Pakistan is now seeking an emergency bailout loan of $8 billion from the International Monetary Fund as well as fresh loans from Saudi Arabia and China.
China and Pakistan refer to themselves as “all-weather friends,” united in their rivalry against mutual neighbor India and entwined in a web of military, political and economic links. Friday’s meeting will be the first between the two leaders since Khan’s election in September.
