*ISLAMABAD: *Pakistan has put off the signing of a revised free tradeagreement with China at the last moment due to strong reservations aboutthe final offer list shared by Beijing, said Minister of State for FinanceRana Muhammad Afzal on Thursday.

“The agreement was almost ready for signing when we conveyed ourreservations to the prime minister about the final list of concessions thatBeijing shared at 11pm,” said the deputy finance minister.

He was briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance on thestatus of negotiations on second phase of the free trade agreement (FTA)with China.

The committee expressed concern over what it said was the secret nature ofFTA-II talks. Over the past few weeks, the Chinese ambassador has heldmeetings with the commerce secretary and Prime Minister Shahid KhaqanAbbasi in order to push the deal.

It was almost a mature agreement and was about to be signed by bothcountries, Afzal said, revealing the decision to delay the endorsement wastaken after the business community of Faisalabad – Pakistan’s textile hub –voiced serious reservations about the Chinese final offer list

Both countries have so far held 10 rounds of negotiations for finalisationof the FTA-II. However, the industry and Federal Board of Revenue put upfierce resistance after the commerce ministry revealed in an internalmeeting that Pakistan would offer zero duties on 75% of imported tarifflines.

Under first phase of the FTA, Pakistan gave duty concessions on 35% oftariff lines, which led to a huge influx of Chinese goods and many localindustries could not survive.

Under the second phase, China was seeking certain concessions which thePakistan industry was not ready to give, said Afzal.