China to increase purchases from Pakistan

Will prefer partners signatory to FTAs in trading activity.

BEIJING: In the future, China will encourage more purchases from trading partners that have signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with the country, such as Pakistan, New Zealand and Association for South East Asian Nations member countries.

To boost imports, the State Council – China’s cabinet – has pledged to cut import duties on selected energy products and raw materials and consumer goods, says a statement printed in the China Daily.   Vice Premier Li Keqiang has said that China will import $10 trillion worth of goods and services in the five years ending 2015, the paper said.

In 2011, China’s imports reached $1.74 trillion, accounting for 9% of global trade. That amount is expected to grow by about $100 billion annually. In 2012, the figure rose to $1.82 trillion.  The country had set a 10% target for foreign trade growth in 2012, and official estimates are that combined imports and exports are expected to top $3.87 trillion during the year.

Commerce Minister Chen Deming announced in December that China’s share of global trade increased to 11.1% in 2012 from 10.4% a year earlier, the paper reported.  China, for the first time, replaced the US as Japan’s largest trading partner in 2007 with a record value of trade between the two countries.

Japan’s exports to China grew by 21% to 1.3 trillion yen ($14.76 billion) in 2011, almost double its growth in exports to the US. The figure represented a high demand for Japanese manufactured goods, as well as greater shipments of finished products.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2013.

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