Samarkand, Sep 16 (TIWN) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday in Uzbekistans historic city of Samakarkand on the sidelines of the ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit.

 Xi and Sharif met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Summit in Samarkand during which the two countries signed documents on cooperation in railway, e-commerce and other areas, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Details of the agreements were not disclosed.

"China hopes that Pakistan will provide solid protection for the security of Chinese citizens and institutions in Pakistan as well as the lawful rights and interests of Chinese businesses," Xi told Sharif, airing Beijing's concern over recurring terror attacks on the Chinese workers. China has deployed hundreds of its personnel in a host of projects of the USD 60 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Pakistan. Recent reports said trouble is brewing between the all-weather friends with China increasingly getting critical of Pakistan's failure in protecting Chinese workers who came under periodic attacks from the militant groups. In April, three Chinese were killed in a suicide bombing in Karachi University carried out by the separatist Baloch Liberation Army, which is opposed to China's investments in Balochistan accusing China and Pakistan of exploitation of the resource-rich province. Some of the other attacks were also attributed to radical Islamic militant outfits in Pakistan. With recurring attacks, China is reportedly pressing Pakistan to permit the Chinese agencies to provide security for their personnel which, according to the media reports, Islamabad is resisting as it meant boots on the ground for China's armed forces. China is also concerned over the acute financial crisis faced by Pakistan, prompting Beijing to step in periodically to bail out Islamabad with the induction of foreign exchange loans.