BEIJING: Pakistan has a plan to perform $1 billion worth of trade with China by land route in the future years after the successful delivery of a seafood cargo container to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region along the Karakoram highway, Ghulam Qadir, the commercial counselor at the Pakistani embassy said on Saturday.
“It is quite encouraging that Pakistan has begun to export food products, particularly seafood, to China via land routes. We want to build on this huge success in order to boost our export, he told APP in an interview. He stated that Pakistani officials hope to conduct $1 billion in commerce using land routes in the future. But given the circumstances, we hope to export and trade millions of dollars via this channel this year in the upcoming fiscal year,” he continued.
A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, while making comments about the export of seafood from Pakistan to China via land route, welcomed the entry of high-quality agricultural products from Pakistan into its market and stated that the Chinese side is ready to continue working with Pakistan to increase bilateral trade through land transportation. “As all-weather strategic cooperative partners, China and Pakistan have engaged in close cooperation in trade and other fields,” he continued. “The first-ever seafood shipping container from Pakistan just crossed the Karakoram Highway and landed in Kashgar, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
This is the first-time seafood containers from Pakistan have been transported by road from Karachi to Kashgar City along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
“We welcome quality agricultural products from Pakistan to enter China’s market and stand ready to continue to work with Pakistan to boost our trade through land transportation, achieve sustainable growth, bilateral trade and deliver more benefits to our two peoples,” the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson added.
Moin ul Haque, the ambassador of Pakistan to China, expressed delight with the development and stated that the governments of China and Pakistan are working together to increase the amount of Pakistani seafood and agricultural products that are sent to China via the Karakoram Highway. “We are collaborating to bring more seafood and agricultural products from Pakistan to the Chinese market through this land route,” he said.
As the world’s second-largest consumer market, China embraces more high-quality Pakistani products exported to China.
Ambassador Haque said facilitating trade and exports of Pakistan’s high-quality products through the Khunjerab border is Pakistan-China’s shared objective.
A Pakistani transport company representative said it is the first attempt at a bilateral cross-border road transport business in partnership with a Chinese firm.
He 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.
In the first week of April of this year, the Khunjerab Pass, a crucial land passage on the China-Pakistan border closed for three years due to Covid-19 limitations, was formally reopened for travel by people and cargo. Currently, the Khunjerab Pass opens from April 1 to November 30 each year and is closed from December 1 to March 31 of the following year due to the cold weather and low oxygen levels at such a high height.
However, the Pakistani and Chinese sides are working to keep the border crossing open for 12 months, making it an all-weather facility.
As per officials, the reopening of the border between Pakistan and China is expected to witness a huge growth in cross-border trade and transportation this year.
Cherry from the Gilgit-Baltistan region can now be exported to China, creating a market worth up to $ 2 billion. In a similar vein, exports of sesame seeds to China have surged. The rice, mangoes, textiles, cherry, and other food items could be exported to China, which would help achieve the target of one billion dollars of export to China.
According to official data, the volume of imported and exported goods at the Khunjerab Pass exceeded 200,000 tones between 2016 and 2020. —APP
