CPEC: Pakistan - China sign 38 bilateral agreements
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ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and China signed 38 agreements worth $325 million to promote bilateral trade.
These signed documents will pave the way for enhancing sale of Pakistani products in the Chinese market. The total value of agreements is the same to 17 percent 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 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 Sun Weidong, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade Deputy Director General Wang Dongtang and Trade development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) Secretary Inamullah Khan. Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese embassy, 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 30 companies, belonging to textile industry, pharmaceutical, agriculture products, petrochemical industry, commercial trading and other fields.
Addressing the signing ceremony, the ambassador said China is Pakistan’s second largest export destination for the last couple of years. In 2016, Pakistan export to China stood at $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 China’s 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, he added.
In recent years, the Belt and Road’s initiative and the CPEC have provided historical opportunities to both 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, Weidong said the export from Pakistan to China has increased from $550 million to $1.91 billion in the recent years. Net increase was by 248 percent. 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 improve its energy, transportation infrastructure.
Chinese Commerce Ministry Deputy Director Wang Dongtang and TDAP Secretary Inamul Khan also addressed the signing ceremony and elaborated the growing socio-economic partnership between the two countries. They were confident that their trade ties will get new momentum with the passage of time. - Agencies
