China’s Liu Haixing Arrives for First Pakistan Visit
A senior Chinese Communist Party official responsible for managing the party’s international political relations arrived in Islamabad on Sunday for his first official visit to Pakistan. The Liu Haixing Pakistan visit underscores Beijing’s effort to deepen political and institutional engagement with Islamabad beyond traditional government-to-government diplomacy.
Liu Haixing, minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, is visiting at the invitation of Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. During his stay, he is scheduled to call on Pakistan’s leadership and co-chair a high-level event with Dar on Monday. The Associated Press of Pakistan reported that the visit will last three days, and that Liu was received on arrival by Senator Anusha Rahman Khan and Dr Mohammad Faisal, Additional Secretary for Asia Pacific at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Announcing the visit, the Foreign Office said it was part of the ongoing high-level and party-to-party exchanges between the two countries, reflecting their shared commitment to further strengthening the “All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership”. The visit comes in a landmark year for bilateral relations, as Pakistan and China are marking the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.
It also follows Dar’s meeting with Liu in Beijing in January, when the two sides reviewed party-to-party exchanges, regional developments and progress on various projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
What the Liu Haixing Pakistan visit means
Liu’s position in the Chinese political system gives the visit significance beyond conventional diplomatic engagement. Unlike officials of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he heads a key department of the Communist Party responsible for maintaining relations with political parties and political organisations across the world.
Founded in 1951, the International Department serves as the CPC’s principal channel for party-to-party diplomacy. It maintains contacts with ruling and opposition parties, facilitates political exchanges and provides a platform for discussing governance, development and international affairs. The department operates within the Communist Party’s institutional structure rather than the Chinese government’s Foreign Ministry. Its role is therefore distinct from conventional diplomatic engagement, although both channels work within the broader foreign policy direction set by China’s leadership.
Liu is a member of the 20th CPC Central Committee and was appointed head of the International Department in September 2025. A career diplomat, he previously served as assistant foreign minister and director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of European Affairs. Before taking up his current assignment, he served as executive vice-director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee’s National Security Commission, an important party body chaired by President Xi Jinping.
A Sunday event before Monday’s high-level meeting
Liu’s arrival was marked on Sunday by an exchange event in Islamabad hosted by the Pakistan-China Economic and Cultural Council at a local hotel. Titled “A Journey to China, A Bond of Brotherhood: An Exchange Event Between the Communist Party of China and Its Pakistani Iron-Clad Friends”, the gathering also saw the inauguration of the Pakistan-China Research Center for Party and State Governance.
Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong were among the prominent participants. Addressing the event, Liu said that over the 75 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China and Pakistan had stood by each other through changing circumstances, setting an example of political mutual trust, mutually beneficial cooperation, people-to-people friendship and multilateral coordination between countries with different political systems and ideologies.
“We are proud of the two countries’ strong and long-standing friendship. We cherish it. We have heart-to-heart connections for the further development of our decades-old friendship from generation to generation,” he said.
Gilani welcomed the establishment of the research centre and thanked the Chinese side for nominating him as its honorary chairman. He said exchanges and cooperation between political parties of the two countries had continued uninterrupted over the past 75 years, despite changes in the international landscape. He added that Pakistan highly appreciated the major global initiatives proposed by President Xi, and that Islamabad was ready to consolidate strategic and political mutual trust with Beijing, expand practical cooperation across various sectors and work towards an upgraded version of CPEC.
What happens next
The centrepiece of the visit is the high-level event Liu will co-chair with Dar on Monday. That meeting will show whether the party-to-party channel produces anything beyond the Sunday ceremony, such as new exchange programmes or fresh commitments on CPEC-related cooperation.
The wider context is the 75th anniversary year itself. Both governments have used the anniversary to stress continuity: political trust, economic cooperation and regional stability remain the stated pillars of the partnership. Liu’s visit, as the first by a CPC International Department minister under the current arrangement, tests how far the party channel can carry that agenda alongside the foreign ministries.
Who is Liu Haixing?
Liu Haixing is the minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, the party body that handles relations with political parties and organisations around the world.
Why did Liu visit Pakistan?
He arrived on Sunday at the invitation of Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, to call on Pakistan’s leadership and co-chair a high-level event with Dar on Monday, as part of party-to-party exchanges.
How long is the visit?
The Associated Press of Pakistan reported a three-day official visit, the first official visit by Liu to Pakistan.
What is the International Department?
Founded in 1951, it is the CPC’s principal channel for party-to-party diplomacy, maintaining contacts with ruling and opposition parties and providing a platform for discussion of governance, development and international affairs.
What happened at the Sunday event in Islamabad?
The Pakistan-China Economic and Cultural Council hosted an exchange event at which the Pakistan-China Research Center for Party and State Governance was inaugurated, with Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani, Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and Ambassador Jiang Zaidong among the participants.
