January 22, 2006	Sunday	Zilhaj 21, 1426

BEIJING, Jan 21: China’s Xinjiang reported trade worth $340 million with Pakistan during 2005, showing an upward trend in their economic interactions.

Pakistan emerged as the third largest trading partner of the region after Central Asian states — Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The northwest China’s region’s trade turnover with Kazakhstan surpassed $5 billion, 1.7 billion more than 2004, statistics show. Kyrgyzstan was the second largest trading partner of Xinjiang last year, with a trade turnover of $740 million, up 60 per cent year-on-year.

Xinjiang, a Muslim-majority region bordering Pakistan, was expecting more trade with Pakistan, with the implementation of special tariff package this year, said Zhang Yei, a senior official of the region’s foreign trade and economic cooperation department.

In an interview with APP, he said economic activities between the two stepped up after the visit of Premier Wen Jibao to Pakistan last year and signing of the Early Harvest Programme.

Pakistan’s entry into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has also opened new avenues of economic interaction with China and Central Asia, especially through the land route.

The Xinjiang region, striving to rejuvenate the past glory of the ancient Silk communication network, carried rich potential to become a centre of trade and economic cooperation, linking China with Pakistan and rest of the world.—APP