ISLAMABAD, Dec 10: Pakistan and China will sign a protocol to extend tariff concessions to cover a further 913 items under the Preferential Tariff Arrangement (PTA) for increasing bilateral trade.

The protocol will be signed during the visit of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to China next week. Briefing newsmen on the premier's visit, Federal Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar said Pakistan had been having an operational PTA with China since January 2004.

Under the arrangement China gave tariff concessions on 893 items and Pakistan had given similar concessions to China on 188 items. The minister said that China had agreed to sign the Protocol to deepen the concessions on 186 items covered under the existing PTA and extend tariff concessions to a further 913 items.

Mr Khan said that the Protocol would also include an initiative to establish a Joint Study Group to develop a road-map for the bilateral Free Trade Arrangement (FTA). This arrangement, he said, would include an Early Harvest Programme for immediate tariff elimination on items of bilateral interest. This exercise would be completed within six months, he added.

A two-member delegation led by secretary of commerce has visited China recently to negotiate a string of measures with the Chinese authorities for enhancing bilateral trade between the two countries.