The upcoming visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Pakistan targets to set the trade volume between the two friendly countries at US$ 15 billion by 2012.
Under the 5 years Development Programme launched in 2006 for strengthening of economic relations, the existing trade is to be enhanced to $ 15 billion by 2012.
More than 62 different projects have been identified under this programme for investment in various economic fields and are at different stages of completion.
In the last few years, investment of more than $ 1.3 billion was made by China in Pakistan.
Over 120 Chinese companies have invested in oil, gas, IT and telecom, power generation, engineering, automobiles, infrastructure and mining sectors of Pakistan.
The companies included ZTE, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, China National Machinery Imp/Exp Corporation, Metallurgical Construction Corporation of China, China International Water and Electric Corporation, China Mobile, China Petroleum, Sino hydro. TBEA, Dong Fang. China Roads and Bridge Corporation, China Harbour Engineering and Haier etc.
Important projects which had been completed with Chinese assistance included construction of large number of Hydel power stations.
Fertilizer plants, Heavy Mechanical Complex, Heavy Electrical Complex, KKH, Gwadar port, Ghazi Barotha Power Station and auto manufacturing while quite a few are likely to be added.
China being the second biggest economy of the world finds immense business opportunities in Pakistan as bilateral trade between the two countries had crossed the figure of US $ 7 billion. Despite economic crisis, the positive trend of growth was maintained as the bilateral trade grew more than 30%.
Sino-Pak mutual experience of growth in trade is positive due to convenient trade flows and openness measures. Trade and investment policies are liberal and generally WTO compliant.
China has become one of the top five import sources of Pakistan. Major imports from China are machinery, chemicals, garments and other textile products, stationery, construction materials like tiles, sanitary and crockery, etc.
Machinery and electrical appliances are the major parts of overall exports while Pakistan exports are dominated by fisheries, minerals, stones, textile products & cotton yarn etc.
Pakistan enjoys huge export potential to China due to advantages in agriculture, mineral, chemical, textile, fisheries and leather products.
Besides, Pakistan has comparative advantage in oil seeds, fruits, base metals, plastic goods and perfumery etc.
There are clear possibilities of active Sino-Pak co-operation in the sectors like oil and gas, mining, financial sector, infrastructure, power (coal, hydel, gas based) IT and telecom, chemicals, fertilizer, glass, polymers, textile manufacture (value added), engineering goods, textile machinery, assembling of hybrid automobiles, electronics, automotives, fisheries, agricultural implements, agricultural and agro-based industry, food and fruit processing and packaging, livestock and dairy farming and pesticides.
A few most ambitious projects for the future are: the establishment of a railway link, development of a energy corridor, establishment of transit/trade corridor by using KKH as alternate trade route and collaboration in major infra structure projects like development/processing of coal on a large-scale and construction of big dams etc.
On account of the mutual common understandings, developed over a long period of economic co-operation, China and Pakistan have signed many bilateral agreements, like Free Trade Agreement, Bilateral Investment Treaty, Double Taxation Agreements, Customs related agreements/procedures, establishment of Pak-China Joint Investment Company, bilateral contracts, 5-Year Framework, MOUs in various fields & between various Ministries/Divisions of two countries and the Agreement on Trade in Services.
This involves a wider impact than the other trade and investment agreements. The trade and investment volume is going to increase after the implementation of this agreement, particularly in financial and technical services.
Many public/private enterprise have signed agreements and MOUs worth billions of dollars to cooperate and undertake joint ventures in various sectors, such as infrastructure, mass transit, communication network, finance, science & technology, chemicals, fertilizer, automobile, energy, and development of water resources and agriculture etc.
A few more are likely to be signed during the current visit of the
Prime Minister to Pakistan.
Prospects of further consolidation of economic relations are bright as the two sides have a lot of potential for developments in a number of fields.

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