ISLAMABAD
Pakistan and China here on Thursday signed 38 agreements and MoUs, worth USD 325 million to promote their bilateral trade.
These signed documents paved the way for enhancing the sale of Pakistani products in the Chinese market. The total value of agreements is the same to 17 per cent of China’s gross import from Pakistan.
The products to be imported from Pakistan included seafood, leather, marble products, and coarse copper. This was a step forward, correcting the balance of payment in bilateral trade between the two countries.
The entrepreneurs of the two sides inked the trade’s arrangement in presence of Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Sun Weidong, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade Deputy Director General Wang Dongtang and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) Secretary Inamullah Khan. Chinese embassy Commercial Counsellor Dr Wang Zhihua was also present on the occasion.
More than 100 enterprise representatives attended the signing ceremony. China’s ministry of commerce has organised a trade promotion group for economic and trading communication from August 9, to 11.
The group comprised representatives of thirty companies, belonging to the textile industry, pharmaceutical, agriculture products, petrochemical industry, commercial trading and other fields.
Addressing the signing ceremony, Ambassador Sun Weidong said China is Pakistan’s second largest export destination for the last couple of years. In 2016, Pakistan export to China stood at dollar 1.9 billion. There has been growing trend in the bilateral trade, since the signing of free trade agreement between the two countries, he added.
He also referred to President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pakistan and said it raised the level of their strategic cooperative partnership to a new height. The Sino-Pak friendship has now turned into a role-model for the mutual respect and interest between the two nations.
In recent years, the Belt and Road’s initiative and the CPEC have provided historical opportunities to the two countries to further deepen their bilateral ties in trade and economic fields.
Praising Pakistan’s export potential, the ambassador said Pakistan’s goods including textile, mineral and agriculture-based products are well-received in the Chinese market.
Citing the growing trade between the two countries, Sun Weidong said the export from Pakistan to China has increased from dollar 550 million to dollar 1.91 billion in the recent years. The net increase was by 248 per cent.
About the CPEC, he said it was bringing positive results improving the living conditions of the people. With the development of CPEC, Pakistan will be able to improve its energy, transportation infrastructure.
Dongtang and Inamul Khan also addressed the signing ceremony and elaborated the growing socioeconomic partnership between the two countries. They were confident that their trade ties will get new momentum with the passage of time, meeting common aspirations of their people.
