Business

Pakistan, China: Trade surges with CPEC, FTA

Trade volume and investment soared after signing of FTA between China and Pakistan

APP March 13, 2018

A general view of the port before the inauguration of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor port in Gwadar, Pakistan November 13, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS

BEIJING: Pakistan Ambassador to China Masood Khalid said on Monday that since the signing of China-Pakistan free trade agreement in 2007 and the launch of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in 2013, the bilateral trade volume and investment have soared.

“Currently, China is Pakistan’s largest trading partner and foreign investor,” the ambassador said in an interview. He said Pakistan had benefited from both China’s economic development and Belt and Road initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping for building a shared future.

Pakistan’s 1,320-megawatt Sahiwal and 660-megawatt Port Qasim coal-fired power plants had been completed and Peshawar-Karachi highway, upgrading of Karakoram Highway and Lahore Orange Line Train were in final stages, he said.

Khalid said China had played an important role in many global issues.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2018.

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