Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao shakes hands with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on April 16, 2007, in Beijing.

China and Pakistan on Tuesday signed 13 agreements on cooperation in fields such as space, telecommunications, education and legal assistance, vowing to raise the strategic partnership "to a new level."

The agreements were signed after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held talks with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. According to a source with the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the two sides reached four points of consensus after the talks.

The source provided no further information of the 13 agreements.

The two sides agreed to actively implement the China-Pakistan free trade agreement and a five-year plan for economic and trade cooperation, pledging to accelerate negotiations on service trade cooperation and encourage the mutual investment from the two business communities.

They agreed to expand exchanges in cultural and humanitarian fields to consolidate the traditional friendship, and to cement cooperation in campaigns against "East Turkistan" separatists and cross-border crime.

They would also intensify coordination and communication on multilateral issues in an effort to safeguard stability and promote the development in South Asia, the source added.

Wen spoke highly of China's relations with Pakistan, calling the country "a good and highly reliable friend", "a good cooperative partner" and "a good brother sharing weal and woe".

He also expressed his congratulations on the 60th anniversary of the Pakistan's independence.

Wen said the Chinese government maintained unswerving policies to boost the traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Pakistan and was willing to make concerted efforts with Pakistan to improve the strategic partnership "to a new level".

Aziz said Pakistani people shared friendly feelings with the Chinese people and were proud of the Pakistan-China friendship.

The bilateral ties had endured the test of time and the frequent bilateral high-level exchanges helped boost cooperation, Aziz said.

The continued development of friendly relations with China was an important component of Pakistan's foreign policies and Pakistan would continue to step up the cooperation with China to foster the friendship and mutual trust, he promised

As a guest of Wen, Aziz arrived here on Monday, kicking off an official visit to China from April 16 to 20.

Aziz will also visit Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, where he will attend the inaugural ceremony of Pakistan's consulate general.

From April 20 to 21, Aziz will attend the annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) to be held in China's southernmost Hainan Province.

The BFA annual conference brings together senior government officials, business executives as well as leading academics whose activities affect Asia.

Source: Xinhua