Daily Times

Pakistani men’s apparel exports to China amounted to $21.03million, up more than 17% in the first 10 months of 2022 as compared with the same period in 2021, as per the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC), China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Tuesday.

According to the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, men’s or boys’ apparel (commodity code 61034200), increased by 15.29% worth $11.85 million while last year in the same period it was $ 10.28 million.

Data further showed that men’s or boys’ trousers, and breeches, nes, of cotton (commodity code 62034290) up 16.42% and crossed $6.49 million in the first 10 months of 2022, whereas in the same period last year it was $5.58million.

The bilateral trade in textile sectors improved very fast. Women’s garments exports from Pakistan to China crossed $8.32 million while home textiles crossed $6.74 million, witnessing an increase of 29% as compared with last year in the same period which was $5.25 million.

Asif Muhammad Sulehri CEO of Brizbane Group of Companies in Sialkot and textile exporter told China Economic Net that three major factors are behind the increasing export of Men’s clothing to China.

Pakistan is a major producer of cotton crops, and it is cheaper as compared to China so it has a benefit over them, he said, adding that Pakistan has cheap labor compared to China which is cost-effective for men’s apparel exports to China.

“In January 2020, Pakistan and China entered into the second phase of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA2), under which China has eliminated tariffs on 313 priority tariff lines of Pakistan’s export and out of the 313 high-priority products that Pakistan can now export without duty payments to China, 130 are from the textiles sector,” he stated.

Sulehri said that the reduced tariffs on textile products, an expected surge in Chinese investment into Pakistan, and the potential shift of production base from China to Pakistan, may change the regional dynamics of textiles trade.

“Under the CPFTA2, many Pakistani textile products will now enjoy duty-free access to China, which has extended similar tariff reductions to other trading partners.

Tariffs on readymade cotton garments (HS codes 61, 62, and 63), have been massively reduced, and men’s ensembles of cotton (HS code – 62032200), Pakistan’s top world export, were traded with China at 17.5 percent (MFN rate) which was reduced to 12 percent under Phase-I of FTA and has dropped to 0 percent in Phase-II of FTA,” Asif mentioned.

“Pakistani government’s target is raising the country’s textile and clothing exports from USD 13.5 billion in 2018 to USD 25 billion by 2025. As China has the world’s largest textile industry-in terms of both production and export-it is an inevitable trading partner for Pakistan to meet this 2025 target”, he added

It is to be noted that Pakistan’s cotton yarn exports to China is one of the major items of Pakistan’s exports to the Chinese market.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s seafood exports to China topped $166.56 million, an increase of 41% in the month of January-October year-on-year, while last year it was $118.07 million, CEN reported quoting the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC).

GACC’s data shows that in the first ten months this year, Pakistan’s exports of frozen fish, commodity code (03038990), to China, crossed $45.47 million, which were $21.80 million during the same period last year.

In terms of volume, in January-October more than 22331.728 tons of frozen fish were exported to China whereas last year during the same period it was 13084.984 tons.

Data shows that in January-October this year exports of fresh & chilled crabs, commodity code (03063399), to China touched $22.46 million.

However last year in the same period they were $17.14 million, an increase of 31%. In terms of quantity, in the first ten months of this year it was 3174.391 tons and last year in the same duration it was 2445.136 tons, an increase of nearly 30%.

Conferring to the data, in January-October this year, exports of molluscs and shellfish, commodity code (16055900), to China, crossed $19.77 million, whereas they were just $1.89 million during the same period last year.

Ghulam Qadir, Commercial Counsellor, Pakistani Embassy in Beijing, told CEN that China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement helped many Pakistani products enter the Chinese market, and Pakistan’s seafood exports to China are increasing day-by-day due to this agreement.

“Now many Pakistani seafood exporters enjoy zero-traffic duty on seafood items while they are getting more awareness about China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement.

Recently, we registered new species under the 2nd phase of CPFTA which helped increase exports to China and we are negotiating with GACC to add more species to our seafood export list under CPFTA,” he added.

Qadir further said that many Pakistani seafood exporters want to increase collaboration with Chinese partners to enhance exports by using China’s latest technologies, techniques, and best practices in this field.

He said that the Marine Fisheries Department (MFD) in Sindh and GACC are closely cooperating to enhance seafood exports to China by adding new species under zero-tariff rate.