Pakistan to become major Trade partner of China within a decade

August 1, 2021

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Badar Zaman, Commercial Counselor at the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing has said that said Pakistan could overtake India in Bilateral trade with China in just eight years, although its trade with China currently accounted for only a fifth of India’s trade in 2020.

In 2020, bilateral trade between China and Pakistan rose to $ 17.49 billion, and between China and India to $ 77.7 billion.

Analysts are of the opinion that the strengthening of relations between the two countries and the significant progress already made in the construction of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects could provide additional support to rising trade between two countries.

However, Pakistan has alot to do before it could replace India as major trade partner. Cho Rong, senior fellow at the Chon Yang Finance Institute at the Renmin University of China is of the opinion that If Pakistan hopes to surpass India in trade with China within eight to ten years, Pakistan will need to increase its purchasing power and improve merchandise export standards to meet international standards, Hence, Pakistan needs time to consolidate and develop its purchasing power.

Pakistan’s exports to China rose 34 percent in a year thanks to a bilateral free trade agreement.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Pakistan commonly known as China-Pakistan Economic Corridoe (CPEC) has improved the country’s infrastructure and put it forward for major industrialization push. This means that in the next decade Pakistan will have more import demand and more goods to export to China.