China has shown interest to invest in Pakistan’s textile industry. This was recently revealed by Zhang Xi’an, Vice President of China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles (CCCT).
According to Zhang Xi’an, both China and Pakistan enjoy their own competitive edge in the textile and garment sector and Chinese businessmen are willing to strengthen trade and investment cooperation with Pakistan in textile industry.
It’s worth mentioning here that bilateral trade between both countries has increased since the second phase of China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement came into effect in 2020 that has resulted in reducing tariffs on around 75 per cent of goods from both countries to zero.
This has opened a road for more ‘Made in Pakistan’ products to enter China.
“This agreement is not only a turning point for China-Pakistan trade and economic cooperation, but also a new opportunity for China-Pakistan textile industry cooperation,” commented Zhang in an interview with China Economic Net (CEN), adding, “On the one hand, China’s textile industry has accelerated the pace of investment all over the world these years. On the other hand, Pakistan has also provided incentives for Chinese enterprises investing in Pakistan.”
Since Pakistan is a major cotton producing nation, Chinese investors are eyeing the comparative advantage of Pakistan’s textile sector which is supported by CPEC Authority that recently organised a meeting with CCCT and leading Chinese textile companies and investors.
One of the luring product categories is home textile as Pakistan, in 2020, exported home textiles worth US $ 3.80 billion, accounting for 28 per cent of its total textile and garment exports.
The country is also the third largest home textile shipper to USA and second largest supplier to EU.
Sensing the competitive edge of China’s home textile sector, Chinese officials have informed their willingness to share advanced technology, and experience in research, design, manufacturing, management, marketing and brand building with Pakistan.
