The partnership between Pakistan and China is one of the strongest in Asia. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif once said that his country's ties with Beijing are "higher than mountains" and "deeper than oceans." In May 2015, those sentiments were given form when Chinese president Xi Jinping, on his first visit to Pakistan, signed $28 billion worth of agreements as part of the proposed $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The ambitious project, which when complete would link China with two Pakistani ports, faces an array of challenges. But if completed as planned, it will help stimulate Pakistani economic growth, particularly in its more impoverished western region. It would also further strengthen Chinese influence in the region and give it an export corridor to the Arabian Sea.