The diplomatic and bilateral relationship of Pakistan and China are the basis for development and progress. Both the countries are making ways for one another. They have developed a trade relationship as well which is the major of revenue generation. This trade relationship can benefit more and more. A Pakistani diplomat said that Pakistan could overtake India in trade with China in just eight years even though the volume is one-fifth of India’s in 2020. As the 2020 bilateral trade between China and Pakistan was $17.49 billion while it was $77.7 billion between China and India. Badar U Zaman was at the 2021 China-Pakistan Trade Forum who told the Global Times that India’s population is five to six times larger than that of Pakistan so it would take eight to ten years to overtake them.
China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects are the real assets in the boosting of bilateral trade. Zhou Rong, a senior researcher at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China said that: “If Pakistan hopes to overtake India in trade with China in eight to ten years, Pakistan has to increase its purchasing power and improve the standard for export goods to meet international standards.” And he added that Pakistan needs time to build and cultivate its purchasing power.
The worsening bilateral relation between China and India is good for Pakistan and China’s trade. As the Indian government’s ban on Chinese investment into the country and the volume of their trade is also reduced from $85.5 billion to $77.7 billion. Whereas the relationship between China and Pakistan has become stronger and investment has been increasing. CPEC is the key to Pakistan’s trade improvement as it has improved the infrastructure of the country and has formed ways for its industrialization process. And this has enabled Pakistan to demand imports and more goods to export to China.
The experts noted that the construction of a string of industrial parks will help Pakistan to improve the quality of its exports. Zaman and Zhou are of the opinion that Pakistan’s copper, cotton sugar, and textile products would be demanded by China.
Pakistan and China are together in matters of trade for six consecutive years since 2015. No incident can weaken the relationship between Pakistan and China and the prosperity would go to the peak.
