KARACHI, Dec 20: A 26-member business delegation, led by President FPCCI, Iftikhar Ali Malik is visiting China from December 22-25 that coincides with the current official visit of the president Gen Pervez Musharraf to Beijing.

The delegation represents leading textile, seafood, leather garments and footwear exporters and manufacturers.

According to an FPCCI’s press release, the delegation will hold individual business meetings with their Chinese counterparts during a trade and investment conference to be held on December 24 at Guangzhou, China. The conference will also be addressed by Gen Pervez Musharraf and the Deputy Governor of the Guangzhou province.

FPCCI president will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Chinese Company, QingQi Group for establishing a diesel loader vehicle manufacturing plant in Pakistan in collaboration with his company — Guard Group.

China has recently become the member of the World Trade Organization and will be keen to increase its market share in its regional markets.

However, the Pakistani private sector delegation does not intend to discuss with its counterparts the implications of China’s entry into the WTO on this visit. Even the FPCCI Thursday’s statement does not mention any specific meetings with Chinese businessmen on this new development.

“It is not on the agenda right now,” member managing committee, FPCCI, Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, who is also accompanying the delegation, told Dawn on Thursday.

“We are going to China to sign joint venture agreements and to discuss various ways and means to boost trade between the two countries,” he said adding his company will sign an agreement in China to set up a dyes and chemical plant in Pakistan.

He said the main area of interest in the Trade and Investment Conference will be signing joint venture agreements in garment and textile manufacturing as majority of the delegation belongs to textile industry.

China is one of the largest importers of textiles in the world, with six billion dollars worth of textiles imported in 1999, besides $519 million of bedding and knitted apparels.

According to an analyst at First Capital Research, China had offered to buy 100,000 tons of synthetic fibre from Pakistan. Apart from textiles — investment is also being sought in oil and gas, hydel power generation, paper and board and mining. China could act as a very large new foreign investor in the country’s economy when foreign investment inflows are declining.

According to the KCCI’s directory on Foreign Trade Pattern of Pakistan, the exports of Pakistan to China have been growing since 1996-97 mainly due to increasing exports of Pakistani textile products to China. But the trade balance is in favour of China.

Pakistan’s exports to China increased from $106.4 million in 1996-97 to $149 million in 1998-99 and jumped to $304 million in 2000-2001. Imports from China decreased from $543 million in 1996-97 to $394.4 million in 1998-99 but increased to $525 million in 2000-2001.

Main items of exports to China were textile yarn and fabrics, fish, organic chemical, leather and leather products, chromium ores and concentrates while major items of imports from China were chemical material and products, machinery, organic and inorganic chemicals, iron and steel, telecom appliances and equipments.