BEIJING, March 13: China will further strengthen economic ties with Pakistan and other neighbouring countries, said Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai. Talking to Ambassador Riaz Mohammad Khan in Beijing , Bo said Sino-Pakistan bilateral trade witnessed a 35 per cent annual growth to reach $2.5 billion last year. This, he said, was "encouraging and positive indication in the development of their bilateral ties."

He expressed the hope the two countries would see more progress in economic and trade cooperation in the years to come.

To enhance economic cooperation with China is Pakistan's "priority" and that is "good for us and good for the region," said Riaz.

The ambassador said a large number of Chinese enterprises have set up branches in Pakistan and were doing business in railway, dam-building and other fields. China and Pakistan could further cooperate in agriculture, mine and water-control projects, he added.

The commerce ministry sources told APP that the newly appointed China's commerce minister Bo Xilai wished to take new initiatives for strengthening the Sino-Pakistan economic ties. "We are looking forward to establishing comprehensive economic partnership in all areas of bilateral interest," they added.

The ministry, the sources said, would encourage the Chinese companies to generate business activities in Pakistan. In order to provide financial support, the Chinese government had also approved a credit of $500 million. This credit would soon be available to Chinese companies for making investment in Pakistan.

The sources said China was willing to arrange maximum number of economic exchanges and cooperation with the neighbouring countries, under the framework of WTO.

In the recent years, Pakistan and China had made good headway in developing their economic relations, but still they had to go a long way in exploiting their excellent diplomatic contacts for the economic benefit of their people.

A Chinese official suggested that maximum number of Pakistani businessmen should visit China to explore new openings for undertaking joint ventures.

The official explained that the WTO had reduced the government's role in developing foreign trade and economic relations. Now, it is up to the private sector to play its role for reinforcing economic ties on country-to-country level.

He noted that China's recent moves to forge regional trade andco-operation was in line with the WTO framework. "We have reached agreements last year with Pakistan, Thailand, India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on tariff reduction," he added.

According to the sources, since its accession to the WTO in December 2001, China had repealed a total of 2,300 laws and regulations that were deemed incompatible with WTO requirements. It has also lowered tariffs on a wide range of imports. In 2004, the average import tariff would drop to 10.4 per cent.-APP