Daily Times

A truck loaded with cold chain containers from Pakistan has arrived at Kashgar city in Northeast China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region via a cross border land route.

This is the first time that seafood containers from Pakistan have been transported by road from Karachi to Kashgar city along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Global Times reported on Friday.

A representative from the Pakistani transport company said this was the first attempt at bilateral cross-border road transport business in partnership with a Chinese firm.

“The cost and price of cold chain transport of the route is under assessment, our Chinese partners are also exploring more opportunities to import more commodities from Pakistan,” he added.

The representative noted that the shipment cost by truck is far below that of air transport, and has simpler customs clearance procedures.

In addition, shipment by road shortens transport time to eight days, which is suitable for small-scale and point-to-point logistics, while the sea transport from Karachi Port to Yangshan Port in Shanghai takes nearly a month.

According to media report, the container truck entered China via the Karakoram Highway, the only land route linking Pakistan with China, undergoing a customs check at the Khunjerab Port, the world highest port.

The largest bilateral cooperation program the CPEC is marking its 10th anniversary this year, has played an important role in bilateral cooperation between China and Pakistan and created over 155,000 local jobs for Pakistani people, China’s National Development and Reform Commission said.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also hailed the CPEC as a shining example of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) at the 4th round of the Foreign Minister-level Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue held in Islamabad.

In order to expand the influence of the CPEC, the foreign ministers of China, Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to extend the program to Afghanistan, to further advance cooperation under the BRI.