Mrs Wang Jianlin, Mayor of Urumqi, capital of Chinese province of Xinjiang, has assured support to the holding of Pakistan single country exhibition for the promotion of Pakistani exports.
The assurance was given during a meeting with Vice-President Arshad Alam and Chairman and members of Pakistan-China Business Council at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce (FPCCI).
Jianlin said that Xinjiang, which is the largest province of China, borders Pakistan and over 50 percent of its population is Muslim.
She said that the purpose of her delegation's visit is to promote Xinjiang's trade with Pakistan and to visit the industrial exhibition in Karachi where businessmen of her province have put up a stall.
She called for more contacts between the businessmen of Xinjiang and Pakistan and said that the proximity of the province to Pakistan will promote bilateral trade.
Welcoming the delegation Vice-President FPCCI Arshad Alam expressed pleasure that Gwadar Port, which is being developed with the Chinese assistance, will be the nearest port to Xinjiang than any other port and hoped that its businessmen would make most use of the port.
He expressed pleasure that the historic silk route has been revived, which will be helpful for the promotion of bilateral trade.
Javed Ilyas, Chairman Pakistan-China Business Council, said that Xinjiang province produces best quality of cotton, which is exported to Switzerland and from there it is re-exported to Pakistan.
He said that Pakistan, which is presently facing shortage of cotton, would be interested in direct import from Xinjiang.