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China's President Xi Jinping has signed a deal with Pakistan promising $46bn (£30.7bn) of investment.
China plans to inject some $46bn - almost three times the entire foreign direct investment Pakistan has received since 2008. Many say Mr Sharif's penchant for "thinking big" and China's increasing need to control maritime trade routes may well combine to pull off an economic miracle in Pakistan.
But there are questions over Pakistan's ability to absorb this investment given its chronic problems with militancy, separatism, political volatility and official corruption.
China is worried about violence from ethnic Uighurs in its mostly Muslim north-western Xinjiang region and fears hard-line separatists could team up with Uighur militants fighting alongside members of Pakistan's Taliban.
$46 billion is a substantial amount of money- in fact, it is a larger sum than all the aid Pakistan has received since 2008, all from a single nation. The project will undoubtedly help the struggling Pakistani economy, proving a much needed injection of cash, business, and will hopefully put the nation's power shortages to an end. With all the motions being set into place, the agreement could shock the Pakistani economy into life, fulfilling its goal of one day becoming an "Asian Tiger," and perhaps bringing to an end the decades of religious militants and extremism that has shaped the nation at home. For China, this is yet another show of strength to the rest of the world, further cementing its place as the regional power in Central, South, and Southeastern Asia as India falls further and further behind China in terms of sheer growth. The move allows China to surpass the US as the undisputed number 1 provider of foreign aid in Pakistan, and provides the nation with much-needed access to the Indian ocean, allowing it to engage in greater amounts of trade, as well as giving it a foot hold in the region, along with its military base in Africa. China is slowly creating a military ring around itself, flexing its economic and military muscles. For both parties, this is a great move- it will be interesting to see what such a move will have in store for the West.