President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan was in Beijing from June 5 to 7, 2012, to attend the summit of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) of which Pakistan, like India, Iran and Afghanistan, is an observer. It has sought regular membership of the SCO on which no decision has so far been taken.
Zardari combined his visit for the SCO summit with a bilateral visit for talks with Chinese leaders and businessmen on bilateral relations. Among the Chinese leaders he met for bilateral discussions were President Hu Jintao and Vice-President Xi Jinping.
The official Xinhua news agency reported that during his meeting with Zardari on June 7, Hu said that China encouraged and supported its enterprises to participate in energy and electric power projects in Pakistan. He hoped that the two countries would deepen pragmatic cooperation, especially in the sectors of trade, energy, transportation infrastructure construction, agriculture, telecommunications, aerospace and technology. Xinhua quoted Hu as saying: “China will continue to provide assistance for Pakistan's economic and social development within our capacity."
According to the agency, Hu called on the two countries to improve law-enforcement and security cooperation, and jointly fight the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism.