Pakistan’s special advisor for commerce, textiles and investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, says he expects a new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China, complete with measures to trade-based money laundering (TBML), to be operational by July.

Dawood recently travelled to China with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan to attend the 2nd Belt and Road Forum.

Policy approved

The advisor said that a policy paper on Pakistan-China ties has been already been approved by Pakistan’s cabinet.

It contains safeguarding measures against the import of products from China that hurt local industry.

Curbing TBML

According to Dawood, Pakistan and China have agreed in principle to electronic data exchange to curb misdeclaration and under-invoicing.

Currently, trade data of the two countries does not reconcile. Data show the volume and valuation of Chinese exports to Pakistan are higher than imports from China reported in Pakistan.

Substantial losses

Pakistan’s customs authorities estimate that imports from China are undervalued by at least US$4 billion annually.

Pakistan’s finance minister, Miftah Ismail, said last year that China’s records state Pakistan’s imports US$16 billion worth of goods. According to Pakistan’s data, it imports US$12 billion worth of goods from China (Trade Based Financial Crime, 11 June 2018).