Pakistani Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari remarked that using overland routes for Pakistan-China trade would further strengthen the All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership between the two countries.
Pakistan’s first-ever seafood cargo container arrived at Kashgar City in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region through the Karakoram Highway, a cross-border land route, Global Times reported on Friday.
Happy to see Pakistani products reaching Chinese consumers through the Khunjerab border. Enhancing Pakistan-China trade via overland routes would further strengthen 🇵🇰🇨🇳 All Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership and advance our shared vision for regional connectivity. https://t.co/mJuCySAo19
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) June 5, 2023
Overview
Expressing happiness over Pakistani products reaching Chinese consumers through the Khunjerab border, Zardari said that overland trade advances the two countries’ shared vision for regional connectivity.
“As the world’s second-largest consumer market, China embraces more high-quality Pakistani products exported to China,” the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan said in a tweet.
Regarding the development, Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque remarked, “Facilitating trade and exports of Pakistan’s high-quality products through Khunjerab border is Pakistan’s and China’s shared objective.”
Haque said that China and Pakistan are working to bring more Pakistani seafood and agro products through the Karakoram Highway land route to the Chinese market.
This was the first-ever transportation of seafood containers from Pakistan to Kashgar City via the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Notably, this cargo’s journey was completed in just eight days, while the sea transport from Karachi Port to Shanghai’s Yangshan Port took about a month.
In a question related to the cargo at a press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin hailed the latest development. Wang said, “As all-weather strategic cooperative partners, China and Pakistan have engaged in close cooperation in trade and other fields.”
The spokesperson added that China welcomed quality agricultural products from Pakistan into China’s market and was ready to continue to work with Pakistan to boost trade through land transportation. He also expressed China’s interest in achieving sustained growth of bilateral trade with Pakistan and delivering more benefits to the people of the two countries.
Pakistan’s first-ever seafood cargo container successfully arrived in Xinjiang through the Karakoram Highway. As the world's second-largest consumer market, China embraces more high-quality Pakistani products exported to China. pic.twitter.com/42Q4M6vEtP
— Chinese Emb Pakistan (@CathayPak) June 3, 2023
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
CPEC is China’s ambitious multi-billion infrastructure and connectivity project under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). CPEC intends to build a network of roads, railway lines, and power projects across Pakistan, and is aimed at strengthening the ties between China and Pakistan.
The project aims to link the Pakistani ports of Gwadar and Karachi to China’s North Western Xinjiang region using a network of highways and railways.
India has repeatedly objected to the project and expressed concerns about a part of the corridor expected to cut through the Gilgit-Baltistan region in the disputed area of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK), which both countries claim to be their own.