Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will visit China in early July, Beijing said Tuesday while reiterating its defence of the two countries' nuclear cooperation.
Zardari will visit from July 6 to 11, meeting President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.
He said he had no information on whether any trade or other agreements would be signed during the trip.
Last month, the United States said it had asked China to clarify the details of a nuclear reactor deal between the two sides.
The state-run China National Nuclear Corporation has agreed to finance two civilian nuclear reactors in Pakistan's Punjab province, despite fears abroad about the safety of atomic material in the Islamic nation.
The deal comes after China in 2004 entered the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a group of nuclear energy states that forbids exports to nations lacking strict International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.
US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said earlier the deal must be approved by the NSG and Washington sought further information from Beijing.
Qin on Tuesday repeated earlier Chinese statements that the two nation's nuclear cooperation was in line with international accords.
"The civilian nuclear energy cooperation between China and Pakistan is completely in line with the international obligation of nuclear non-proliferation and is completely for peaceful purposes and subject to IAEA safeguards and supervision," he said.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
