Chinese investment company RUYI will set up textile parks in Pakistan and will invite around 100 Chinese textile firms to invest in the facilities, a statement from Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office said on Friday.

The first park will be inaugurated later this year and will be completed in three years.

These parks are expected to export products worth $2 billion in the first phase and another $5 billion in second phase, which will create 300,000 to 500,000 local jobs, the statement said.

The two neighbouring nations have long been close allies and Islamabad relies heavily on Beijing for its development and economic projects.

The statement said the park will run on zero carbon automatic technology by using solar energy.

RUYI already runs a coal power plant in the Sahiwal district of the eastern Pakistani province of Punjab.

Beijing has been developing road, rail and port infrastructure in Pakistan as part of its $65 billion investment called the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

(Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Sharon Singleton)