What the Foreign Office announced
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in Beijing on Saturday, 3 January 2026 to co-chair the seventh round of the Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue, scheduled for Sunday, 4 January, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a post on X. An earlier FO statement described Dar as “the first foreign dignitary to visit China in 2026”, at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, with whom he is co-chairing the dialogue.
The FO said on X that Dar was received at the airport by China’s Special Representative on Afghanistan, Ambassador Yue Xiaoyong, by Pakistan’s Ambassador to China and by officials from the Pakistani Embassy. The dialogue, the FO added, “will review the full spectrum of bilateral cooperation, identify new areas of partnership, and further advance the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between Pakistan and China”.
Where the visit sits in the bilateral calendar
The Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue is, the FO said earlier in the week, the “highest consultative mechanism between Pakistan and China, providing a structured platform to review the entire spectrum of bilateral cooperation, as well as regional and international developments of mutual interest”. The two foreign ministers will use the dialogue to announce initiatives and commemorative activities for the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the FO added, noting that Dar would also “attend events marking the beginning of the 75th year of Pakistan-China diplomatic ties”.
The sixth round of the strategic dialogue was held in Islamabad in August 2025, when Wang Yi visited the capital and met Dar, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari. Dawn reported at the time that China had affirmed its commitment to working with Pakistan on promoting regional peace, development and stability.
What remains open
The agenda and outcomes of the 4 January dialogue, including any new initiatives in trade, infrastructure and regional cooperation, were not published on the date of this report. Specific commemorative activities for the 75th-anniversary year and any new agreements or joint statements are expected to emerge from the 4 January dialogue.
Sources & reporting notes
This article draws on a single contemporaneous Dawn report of the 3 January 2026 arrival announcement, including the FO's earlier-week statement on Dar's visit. No independent Pakistan or international outlet's same-day article on Dar's Beijing arrival could be located within the source-finding budget; Chinese MFA URLs and wire-service direct URLs returned extraction-backend errors on the relevant pages. The Dawn report quotes the FO directly and is treated as an authoritative single-source account; this single-outlet limitation is disclosed in lieu of a second independent domain.
- Dawn — Dar arrives in Beijing to co-chair strategic dialogue with ChinaPublished 3 January 2026. Reports the FO's announcement of Dar's arrival, the planned 4 January dialogue with Wang Yi, the 75th-anniversary-year context, and the link to the August 2025 sixth round held in Islamabad.