Daily Times

Pakistan’s exports to China shot up to $197.27 million in August 2021 against $94.4 million in August 2020, Gwadar Pro reported.

According to statistics shared by the ministry of commerce, Pakistan’s exports to China grew by 109pc on year-over-year basis. It said that China had become the second largest exports destination for Pakistan.

During the month, Pakistan saw exports growth to the US, UK, Holland, Germany and Spain as well, but exports to China registered the highest growth. Exports to the U.S. and Spain grew by 60pc each, while Holland imported 46pc more goods and services from Pakistan during the period. Pakistan’s exports to China are steadily going up after Beijing granted several concessions to Islamabad under the upgraded Free Trade Agreement (FTA-II), effective since January 1, 2020. Under FTA-II, China eliminated tariffs on 313 major export items from Pakistan.

Impact of the upgraded FTA between the two Iron Brothers is evident from the fact that Pakistan’s exports to China are continuously surging despite the pandemic.

Keeping in view the positive trajectory, prime minister’s aid on commerce Abdul Razak Dawood expressed the hope last month that Pakistan’s exports to China could cross the $3 billion mark during the current fiscal year. On the other hand, China is assisting Pakistan in many ways to develop Pakistan’s exports sector. Also, experts believe that Pakistani growers and traders could easily tap the over $100 billion food import market of China.

Currently, China is providing technical support to Pakistan to improve its yields of cotton, oilseeds, sugarcane, wheat, maize and rice, which not only can satisfy the local demand but also enables Islamabad to export food items to other countries.