China And Pakistan Ended The Second Phase Of Negotiations On The FTA And Signed The Protocol.

On April 28th, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan in Beijing, and Premier Li Keqiang met Imran Khan on the same day.

Under the joint testimony of the prime ministers of the two countries, Yu Jianhua, Vice Minister of Commerce and deputy representative of international trade negotiations, signed the agreement between the government of Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan government on Revising the free trade agreement with Masood, Khaled, Ambassador of China to Pakistan.

The protocol, as the outcome document of the second phase of the China Pakistan free trade agreement, is an important measure to implement the important consensus of the leaders of the two countries, further enrich and enrich the all-weather strategic partnership between China and Pakistan, is a standard for the construction of free trade zones among developing countries, and is also a vivid practice of promoting the construction of "one belt and one road" and building the community of human destiny.

The protocol upgraded and revised the market access and tariff reduction schedule, rules of origin, trade remedy and investment in the original FTA, and added the customs cooperation section.

The core content is to further increase the level of liberalization of trade in goods between the two countries on the basis of the original FTA.

After the entry into force of the agreement, the ratio of zero tariff products between China and Pakistan will gradually increase from 35% to 75%.

In addition, the two sides will also impose a partial tax reduction of 20% on other products that account for 5% of their respective tax collections.

The China Brazil FTA was signed in November 2006 and implemented in July 2007.

In March 2011, China and Pakistan started negotiations on the second stage of the FTA. They agreed on all the issues in the near future and ended the negotiations.

The head of the international division of the Ministry of Commerce introduces the second stage protocol of the China Pakistan FTA agreement.

On April 28th, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan in Beijing, and Premier Li Keqiang met Imran Khan on the same day.

Under the joint testimony of the prime ministers of the two countries, Yu Jianhua, Vice Minister of Commerce and deputy representative of international trade negotiations, signed the agreement between the government of Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan government on Revising the free trade agreement with Masood, Khaled, Ambassador of China to Pakistan.

The director of the Department of international trade and economic relations of the Ministry of Commerce introduces the relevant conditions of the protocol.

Q: what is the significance of the signing of the protocol?

A: the signing of the protocol is the latest achievement of implementing the nineteen Party's "promoting free trade area construction and promoting the construction of an open world economy", reflecting China's positive attitude towards promoting the formation of a new pattern of comprehensive opening up and firmly supporting free trade and economic globalization.

At the same time, the signing of the protocol is also an important measure for China and Pakistan to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, further enrich and enrich the all-weather strategic partnership of cooperation between the two countries, is a model for the construction of free trade zones among developing countries, and is also a vivid practice of promoting the construction of "one belt and one road" and building the community of human destiny.

On the basis of mutual benefit, the two countries have reached a higher level of free trade agreement in the fields of goods trade, rules of origin, customs cooperation, investment and so on, and substantially increase the level of trade liberalization. They will play an important role in promoting trade and investment between the two countries, exploring and exploring new areas of cooperation, vigorously promoting bilateral economic and trade relations to achieve greater development, and bringing more benefits and benefits to enterprises and people of both countries.

The protocol is a significant upgrading of the original China Pakistan FTA and has a milestone significance in the development of bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

Q: please introduce the overall situation of China Pakistan FTA.

A: the free trade agreement between the People's Republic of China government and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan government was signed in November 2006 and implemented in July 2007. It mainly covers trade, investment and other fields. It is the first FTA signed by our country and South Asian countries.

In order to further promote bilateral cooperation in the field of service trade, the two sides signed the agreement on trade in services between the government of the People's Republic of China and the free trade area of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan government in February 2009, which was implemented in October 2009.

The signing and implementation of China Pakistan FTA led to the rapid development of bilateral economic and trade relations.

According to our customs statistics, the bilateral trade volume between China and Pakistan reached US $19 billion 80 million in 2018, 3.6 times before the 2006 agreement.

At present, China is Pakistan's largest trading partner, the largest source of imports, the third largest export market and the largest source of investment.

Pakistan is my second largest trading partner in South Asia.

Q: please introduce the background and process of the second stage negotiation of China Pakistan FTA.

A: in March 2011, China and Pakistan started negotiations on the second stage of the FTA.

A total of eleven meetings were held.

In particular, since September 2017, the negotiation process has been speeding up, and both sides have made important progress in such issues as market access, rules of origin, customs cooperation and investment.

In November 2018, Prime Minister of Pakistan, m LAN Han, made the first official visit to China. The two countries issued a joint statement and agreed to complete the second phase negotiation of the Sino Pakistani free trade agreement as soon as possible.

Since then, the negotiating teams of the two sides have conducted intensive consultations, and have reached agreement on all the second stages of negotiations and the contents of the protocol in the near future.

In April 28th, the two sides formally signed the protocol with the mutual witness of the two prime ministers of the two countries.

Q: what are the main contents of the protocol?

A: the protocol contains about 400 pages, consisting of preamble and 6 chapters. In addition to upgrading and revising the market access and tariff reduction schedule, rules of origin, trade remedy and investment in the original FTA, new customs cooperation chapters are also added.

Compared with the original FTA, the core of the protocol is to substantially increase the level of liberalization of trade in goods between the two countries.

Q: what is the upgrading of the market access to the goods trade in the protocol?

Answer: the upgrading of market access for trade in goods is the core content of the second stage negotiation and the protocol of the China Pakistan FTA.

On the basis of the original FTA, the two sides will substantially reduce the tariff level between the two countries and further expand the liberalization of trade in goods between the two countries.

After the entry into force of the agreement, the ratio of tax items to zero tariff products between China and Pakistan will gradually increase from 35% to 75%, and the level of liberalization will more than double.

Among them, China will abolish customs duties immediately after the entry into force of the 45% tax items, and gradually abolish customs duties in 30% years' tax items in 5 years (tax items 15%) and 10 years (tax accounts 15%).

Pakistan will also abolish customs duties immediately after the entry into force of the 45% tax items, and gradually abolish customs duties in 30% years' tax items in 7 years (tax items 15%) and 15 years (tax accounts 15%).

In addition, the two sides will also impose a partial tax reduction of 20% on other products that account for 5% of their respective tax collections.

Q: what products can the two countries receive tariff concessions after the entry into force of the protocol?

A: on the basis of mutual benefit, China and Pakistan will be included in the tariff reductions of 80% of their total tax items and give full consideration to the main export products that are of mutual concern.

Pakistan has included the export advantages of Electromechanical, furniture, textile, phosphate fertilizer, glassware, automobile and motorcycle spare parts, which China has focused on.

China has included the export advantages of cotton yarn, leather, clothing, aquatic products, nuts and other export products that Pakistan focuses on.

With regard to the tariff reduction arrangements for specific products, the agreement can be found in the tariff reduction schedule of both parties after publication.

Q: what is the significance of the escalation of the market access for goods to China and Pakistan?

A: China and Pakistan will substantially reduce tariffs on the basis of the original FTA, which will provide more favorable conditions for the two enterprises to further develop their respective markets, promote mutually competitive exports and promote balanced development of bilateral trade, bringing more tangible benefits and benefits to enterprises and people of both countries.

The tariff level between the two countries has been greatly reduced, and it will further promote investment and production capacity cooperation, provide better conditions for Chinese enterprises to "go out" and overseas industrial layout, and promote the construction of China Brazil economic corridor and "one belt and one road".

At the same time, in the long run, the reduction of trade costs between the two countries will promote the integration of China Pakistan industrial chain, make full use of the comparative advantages of the two countries, enhance the competitiveness of enterprises in the regional and global industrial chains, and promote the economic development of both countries.

Q: what are the provisions of the protocol in the field of investment?

A: on the basis of the investment chapter of the original FTA, the two sides have increased the terms of the future work plan, and agreed to work to encourage mutual investment and strengthen cooperation so as to provide investors with stable, pparent and predictable investment environment.

In addition, the two sides agreed to carry out negotiations in a timely manner and upgrade the investment section.

Q: what are the contents of the protocol in the field of customs cooperation?

A: in the customs cooperation section, the two sides have incorporated the relevant provisions of the customs electronic data interchange, pledged to ensure the implementation of the electronic data interchange memorandum of understanding signed by the Customs Administration of China and Pakistan in November 3, 2018, and strive to take further measures including appropriate mechanisms to solve the concerns about export price information.

The implementation of electronic data interchange between China and Pakistan will play an important role in strengthening the supervision of the two countries and improving the level of trade facilitation, making it easier for enterprises to enjoy the concessions offered by the protocol.

Q: when is the protocol expected to come into force?

A: in accordance with the relevant provisions of the protocol, the protocol will enter into force on the thirtieth day after completion of the internal procedures received by both parties in writing, or with the consent of both parties.

Next, the two sides will fulfill their domestic legal approval procedures to promote the early implementation of the protocol.

After the entry into force of the protocol, we will publish the text on the "China free trade area service network" (fta.mofcom.gov.cn) for reference by businesses and individuals.