From 16th to 17th May, the 3rd round negotiation of China-Pakistan Free Trade Area was held in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan. It made substantial progress in consultations on tariff reduction, talked deeply about market access, TBT, SPS, trade relief and juristical issues in terms of goods trade etc and reached consensus on the draft text of agreement. Both sides were satisfied with the progress of this round, which created favorable condition for the signing of the agreement on trade in goods before the end of this year.

Zhu Hong, Deputy Director-General of Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs of Ministry of Commerce of China, was the leader of Chinese delegate. Other members came from Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China. Shahid Bashir, Joint Secretary of Ministry of Commerce of Pakistan, was the leader of delegate of Pakistan. Eleven delegates participated in the meeting from Chinese side and 9 members participated from Pakistan side.

Over past few years, China-Pakistan economic and trading relations developed quickly. In 2005, bilateral trade reached US$4,26 billion, up by 39% compared with 2004. Trade between China and Pakistan amounted to US$1,018 billion in Jan through March this year, up by 42.3% compared with the same period last year. By March 2006, contractual investment of China in Pakistan was US$100 million, turnover of overseas projects was US$6,9 billion. Pakistan invested US$24,31 million in China in all.