ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Trade and Investment Advisor Abdul Razak Dawood said on Tuesday that bilateral economic cooperation between China and Pakistan would go a long way in promoting regional and global trade integration.

Speaking to APP here, the adviser said the two countries have already strengthened cooperation in various areas of the economy, especially in trade and investment for mutual and regional benefits.

Dawood said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Pakistan-China Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA-II) were the two important steps in this direction, which boosted trade and investment. .

It is relevant to mention that the two countries signed the second phase of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (SALW) during the Prime Minister’s visit to Beijing in April 2019, which became operational from January 1. 2020.

Dawood said that in the past 10 months (July-April 2020-21), Pakistan’s exports to China increased 31% to $ 1.951 billion, from $ 1.491 billion in the corresponding period of the last year.

“The CPFTA-II has a very positive impact on Pakistani exports in all potential sectors, indicating that it is going in the right direction, for which the credit goes to the exporters,” added the adviser.

He said the CCFTA-II reduced Pakistan’s tariffs to zero on 313 high-priority tariff lines, which benefited the country as nearly half of Pakistani exports to China were covered by these lines.

However, he was of the opinion that the list of Pakistani products exported to China was long but lacked in value.

These products include frozen meat, poultry, dairy products in solid form, human hair, animal stomachs, cut flowers, flower buds, tea, saffron, turmeric, corn, rice, starches, sausages, tobacco and tobacco waste, etc.

In recent years, the bilateral trade volume between China and Pakistan has grown rapidly with a stable product structure, although the balance is largely in favor of China.

According to the latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, Pakistan’s overall exports to China were recorded at $ 1,407.743 million against exports of $ 1,298.531 million over the same period last year, an 8.41 percent growth, SBP data revealed.

In contrast, imports from China into the country during the period under review were recorded at $ 9,074.105 million compared to $ 6,967.724 million last year, up 30.23% over the past year. of the first three quarters of this year.

China also tops the list of countries from which Pakistan imported various products in the first three quarters of the fiscal year (2020-2021), followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Singapore, according to the SBP data.

China is currently Pakistan’s largest trading partner, while Pakistan is China’s second largest trading partner in South Asia.

Major imports from China include electrical and electronic equipment, machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers, consumer goods, organic chemicals, iron and steel, articles of iron or steel, artificial filaments, plastics, fertilizers and man-made staple fibers.

“Over the past decade, we have seen Chinese investment in Pakistan grow as large Chinese state-owned companies and private sector companies have invested in Pakistan in areas such as oil exploration and development, production electricity, textiles, etc., ”said Mr. Naveed, president of Pakistan China Common Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI S), speaking with APP.

“There is great potential to be exploited in Sino-Pakistani economic cooperation, especially in view of the concept of Sino-Pakistani economic corridor,” Naveed added.

According to data from the Board of Investment, China also led the country on the investment side, bringing Pakistan US $ 944.54 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first three quarters of the year. current year (2020-2021).

FDI in the last year (2019-20) was recorded at $ 973.53 million and $ 701.61 million in 2018-19, official sources said.

With the launch of the CPEC, there has been an upsurge in investment flows to Pakistan, especially in the infrastructure and energy sectors.

Naveed said that the Chinese government has encouraged Chinese companies to invest and do business in Pakistan and that the PCJCCI plays an important role mainly in achieving the CPEC and facilitating joint ventures in the private sector, organizing delegations to to and from China, by organizing exhibitions physically. and digitally.