KARACHI, July 24: Pakistani businessmen having trade links with China are worried over their country being selected for "special application forms" to seek invitation for attending the autumn fair in Chinese city Guangzhou in October.

Visas are issued to the businessmen by the Chinese embassy after they receive invitation from the Chinese fair authority that organizes two main exhibitions in Guangzhou in April and in October. Businessmen in thousands, from all parts of the world throng these exhibitions. Quite a big number of Pakistani businessmen also participate and visit these two exhibitions.

The application forms for all the businessmen who seek invitation are available at the website. But this year, for October exhibition, the Chinese authorities have issued separate and special printed application forms for the Pakistani businessmen only. Businessmen around the world continue to enjoy the facility of downloading the application form from the website and get invitation for attending the exhibition.

Pakistani businessmen are getting these printed application forms from the embassy and local consulate in Karachi. "The Chinese authorities seek much more detailed information from the applicant than they used to ask before," a local businessman confided.

A number of businessmen who frequent Beijing, Shanghai and other Chinese cities on business trips speak of being "interrogated much more thoroughly" in their recent visits by the Chinese authorities at the airports than they had experienced earlier.

Obvious reasons being attributed to this extra caution being adopted by the Chinese authorities to Pakistani businessmen are the attack on Chinese engineers in Gwadar.

Just recently, late May to be specific, a Chinese official of the public security department informed a visiting team of Pakistani journalists in Urumqi, the Muslim Turkmenistan province in China, that separatists from these areas remained in hiding in main Pakistani cities.

Pakistan and China enjoy special relationship for last more than 50 years which has been described as "all weather friendship that has withstood test and trials of the time". The two-way trade volume between the two countries has now touched the $2.5 billion figure. China's investment in Pakistan is said to be about $4 billion. China is involved in implementation of projects in Pakistan that are of highly strategic importance.

The business leaders of Pakistan and China have formed the Pakistan-China Business Council. This council is now scheduled to meet in Beijing in October.

Businessmen say that resolution of emerging trade disputes between Pakistan and China is going to be the core issue of the next council meeting. With rapid growth in the two-way trade, the emergence of disputes is a natural outcome, the businessmen contend.

But under the existing arrangements, the Pakistani businessmen can get their disputes resolved through Chinese arbitrators, which is an official agency.

The disputes pertain to delivery schedule, pricing and actual consignments being different in quality than those of the samples. Since a large number of Pakistani businessmen do not understand Chinese and going through Chinese arbitration process involving many visits to Beijing that demands cost, the Pakistani businessmen have preferred to put a lid on their disputes.

But now there is a mounting demand to put in place an arbitration system to address these rising number of bilateral trade issues.

Pakistan market is flooded with cheap Chinese goods that include garments, toys, auto parts and tyres, footwear, a large variety of electronic goods, hospital equipment, stationery items, and many other variety of goods.

Market report suggests that quite a few known shoe-maker companies, electronic manufacturers and industrial producers of certain other varieties now get their products manufactured in Chinese factories and sell them in Pakistan with their company seals.

How far such business practices are fair and serve national interest is anybody's guess.