On February 21, Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari witnessed the signing of the China-Pakistan Agreement on Trade in Services of the FTA by Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Chen Jian and Pakistan Ambassador to China Masood Khan in Wuhan. It is a major achievement in economy and trade during President Zardari’s visit to China.
China and Pakistan announced the launch of negotiations on Trade in Services of the FTA in November 2006 during President Hu Jintao’s visit to Pakistan. Afterwards, the two sides conducted five rounds of negotiations on the Agreement on Trade in Services and the commitment to open up service sectors until they reached complete agreement in December 2008. The Agreement would come into force on Oct. 10th, 2009. As a result, China and Pakistan will establish a comprehensive free trade area covering trade in goods, services and investment on the basis of the said Agreement and the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement which entered into force in July, 2007.
In the last several years, China and Pakistan have been promoting the development of the FTA, making new achievement every year: in November 2003, the two parties signed a preferential trade arrangement; in October 2004, a Joint FTA Feasibility Study was launched; in April 2005, an early harvest program for the FTA was finalized; in November 2006, the agreement on free trade area was signed, achieving desirable results since its implementation in July 2007; in October 2008, the two sides signed a supplement agreement on their FTA to facilitate investment cooperation; in December 2008, they sealed the FTA on services. The signing and implementation of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement on Trade in Services will lay a more solid foundation for the two countries cooperation on dealing with the global financial crisis, upgrading cooperation level in service industry, promoting common economic development and furthering all-weather, all-round friendship.
