BEIJING – The Chinese government has granted the status of “Guest of Honor”to Pakistan at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) to be held fromNovember 5 to 10.This will ensure the provision of all possible facilities and benefits tothe Pakistani pavilion. The gesture also shows the level of commitment inChina to make Pakistan part of a shared future,

according to an article published by Global Times here on Monday.The expo offers a chance for global manufacturers and producers to showcasetheir products in order to gain access to China’s market.

The expo is also an opening for countries participating in the Belt andRoad (B&R) initiative to boost their infrastructure upgrading and reachwider markets.

Pakistan is one such country, which is undergoing massive infrastructuredevelopment to align itself with global transportation and communicationnetworks. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will create anadvanced network of roads, railways and a deep-sea port that will boosttrade with China, Central Asia and Europe.China’s demand for imported food has been growing steadily, creating amarket worth $58.28 billion last year, a 25 percent increase year-on-year.

Pakistan, on the other hand, has a largely agrarian economy. With the helpof Chinese scientists, local agriculture specialists have successfullyintroduced modern farming techniques.Hybrid rice and hybrid wheat have been the most successful products, seeinga marked increase in yield.

Meanwhile, Pakistani mangoes are also doing well; 10,000 tons of them areexpected to be exported to China by the end of this year.To take advantage of China’s food market, Pakistani producers at the CIIEcan offer their own unique and cost-effective products. A bigger share ofthe market in China would translate into higher revenues, improved qualityand a wider product range.

Apart from food, there are other Pakistani products with immense potentialfor export to China, including onyx stones, minerals and surgical items.

The expo organizers were initially expecting around 150,000 purchasingagents, but they have so far registered over 160,000. This massiveparticipation will present Pakistan with access tomarkets in other countries as well. As foreign buyers experience thepreviously unexplored Pakistani prospects, new windows of trade will open.Thus, Pakistani businesses will expand not just into China, but alsointernationally.

Starting from the port of Shanghai, China is rolling out assistance for B&Rcountries to bringdown their trade costs. The cargo clearance process has been simplified anda new filing mechanism is being built for the CIIE pavilions of thesecountries. China is also adjusting tariffs on certain products, such asnuts from Pakistan, in order to meet the demand among domestic consumers.

As a follow-up step to the import expo, Pakistani manufacturers can takeadvantage of China’s booming e-commerce sector. They can utilize thishighly developed industry to reach out to more customers than would bepossible only with physical stores in China.

Alibaba Group has acquired Pakistan’s largest e-commerce portal and itspayment arm Alipay is planning to enter the Pakistani market this year.These ventures will help local manufacturers export goods to China whileletting the supply chain infrastructure, which is already maturing underthe CPEC and B&R initiative, do its job.Pakistan and China are developing stronger ties in the rapidly evolvingglobal order.

Their geopolitical interests are aligned more than ever and bilateral tradehas increased significantly since the CPEC was initiated. In thissituation, people-to-people interaction is extremely important, as itenables them to understand each other’s trade practices.