On his first visit to Beijing as head of state, Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan’s president, is expected to seek a soft loan of $500m-$1.5bn (€367m-€1.1bn, £289m-£900m) from the Chinese government to help him shore up a moribund economy beset by warnings of a possible debt default.

The rupee sank to an all-time low last week and Standard & Poor’s, the global rating agency, downgraded the rating on Pakistan’s sovereign debt to triple C-plus.