Chinese team arrives to look for business opportunities

LAHORE: An eight-member Chinese delegation, headed by Ling Yaqing, secretary general, Worldwide Business Culture Exchange Centre, is visiting Pakistan to look for business opportunities.

“Pakistan and China are steady geo-political partners since many decades, and this cooperation has been translated into economic cooperation from time to time,” Ling Yaqing said during her visit to the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Regional Office on Tuesday.

The delegation comprised of members in manufacturing and selling of transformers, quartzite's (stone) board, and ceramic products, as well as those in mining and processing of quartz, and those in architectural engineering.

Ling Yaqing said both countries were strongly associated together and both countries’ mutual relations were based on solid foundations. She appreciated the role of FPCCI in the economic development of the country and said economic globalisation and regional integration provided enormous opportunities for further cooperation between China and Pakistan.

“Pakistan is an ideal destination for foreign investment and top priority of the Chinese investors,” she added.

Zubair F Tufail, president, FPCCI, shared the output of his meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping during his visit to Peoples Republic of China. He said the Chinese government wanted the same development process which China was enjoying since decades.

“CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) will steer an era of long-lasting economic benefits for the region and beyond the region. The project will also link China's western regions with the Gwadar Port,” he added.

Manzoor ul Haq, regional chairman and vice president, FPCCI, said the Pakistani business community perceives China as a major partner in the economic development process. “It’s time to further foster our economic relation in the context of CPEC. China is one of the leading trade partners of Pakistan and has been playing a significant role in the economic development of the country.”

He highlighted various investment and joint venture opportunities, and said joint ventures with Chinese enterprises would facilitate transfer of technology, especially in the value-addition process. “We should focus on trade balancing,” the FPCCI regional chairman said.