[SatNews] Pakistan would launch a communication satellite with China on August 14th, as a part of Independence Day celebrations, the local newspaper Dawn reported last Saturday.

The new communication satellite would replace the SAT-1 which is on the verge of expiration, Dawn quoted an official in Beijing as saying. The satellite would go into orbit on August 14th as a mark of friendship between Pakistan and China, an official said, after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s visit to China’s Academy of Space Technology last Friday. Meanwhile, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country’s largest commercial bank, has opened a branch in Karachi and Islamabad, Xinhua reported.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony in Islamabad on Friday, Zardari said the ICBC initiative to open branches in the country would begin a new era of cooperation in the banking sector of the two countries. The president hoped the ICBC’s investment in the country would prove to be profitable and that the bank would play a prominent role in channelling bilateral investments.