The
8th Meeting of 2nd Phase Negotiations of China-Pakistan
FTA held in Beijing on 14-15th, September, 2017 concluded with
breakthrough in the negotiation which was at an impasse over the last few
rounds.
The
meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Mohammad Younus Dagha, Secretary Commerce,
Pakistan and Mr. Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister for Commerce, China.
In
the last seven rounds, Pakistan had been pleading the case of restoration of
its preference under the FTA which had been eroded due to subsequent FTAs of
China. Mr. Dagha pointed out that the preference on 79% of Pakistan’s exports
to China had been eroded. Pakistan has also been concerned over not having been
able to get meaningful market access during the first phase of the FTA.
Pakistan had been raising this issue with the Chinese side time and again
during the previous rounds without any consensus to address these concerns. It
was in this back drop, the Secretary Commerce decided to himself lead the
negotiations with the Chinese Vice
Minister as his counterpart.
After
two days of intense negotiations, Chinese side agreed to address the major
concerns of Pakistan side regarding preference erosion for Pakistani exports
and meaningful market access during the 2nd phase. In this regard
Pakistan shared a list around 70 high priority items of its export interest for
immediate market access, which the Chinese side agreed to consider favourably.
These tariff lines constitute more than 80% of Pakistan’s current exports to
China. The meeting ended with exchange of pleasantries and a resolve to
continue working together to make China Pakistan Free Trade Agreement a win-win
proposition for both the countries.