Pakistani mangos, oranges and some other agro-based products will be imported into China at zero-tariff from January 1, 2006, while Chinese-made textile machinery and organic chemicals will enjoy free duty in Pakistan at the same time.
Growers and businessmen would enjoy those benefits under the "Early Harvest Programme (EHP)" signed recently between the two countries, which had a long history of friendship, said a senior official of the Chinese Commerce Ministry.
Talking to newsmen here, he said the EHP was a significant step towards the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and might help address the imbalanced trade hat the two countries, in which China has a big surplus.
The bilateral trade between the two countries has been expanding quickly his year. In the first 10 months, the total exports and imports reached US 3.4 billion dollars, soaring 44 percent year-on-year. But the trade is severely imbalanced, and, for example, China had a trade surplus of US 1.9 billion dollars last year compared to a total trade volume of US 3.1 billion dollars.
The official noted the situation and he believed the FTA, which might have many contents in favour of Pakistan, would help to ease the problem.
"And we also encourage Pakistani companies to engaged in more market promotion in China, and the Chinese government will give as much support as possible," he added.
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