KARACHI, March 18: Chinese Consul General in Karachi, Sun Chun Ye has said that the Pakistan and Chinese governments are forcefully regulating border trade, and there has been a marked decline in smuggling of goods across the border.

He gave this assurance at a luncheon meeting at the SITE Association of Industry on Thursday. Responding to a very serious observation from the SITE industrialists, the Chinese envoy accepted the fact that smuggling was a major problem which should be eliminated.

Sun Chun said that the two countries had agreed to attach great importance to cooperation in the field of trade. He said that during the visit of General Musharraf to China recently, more stress was laid on cooperation in the field of textiles.

In this connection, a high-powered textile delegation, headed by a senior minister, would soon visit Pakistan to accelerate the pace of cooperation, says a press release of the Site Association.

Moreover, the Chinese Consul General disclosed that in order to narrow down the trade deficit, it had been decided to increase purchases from Pakistan, and this was evident from the upsurge in bilateral trade.

He said that Pakistani industrialists should take delegations to China and present their products. He, however, said that the quality and costs must be reasonable. He also said that in November 2004, Board of Investment (BOI) would be organizing an exhibition in this respect too.

He said that the Chinese government had been supporting the Chinese companies to come to Pakistan to explore the market and to establish joint ventures, technical arrangements, and procure goods.

He said a delegation of marble industry was already here. He also said that many projects are being undertaken or contemplated in the field of agriculture. He said the consulate was ready to provide information in this regard.

He asked Pakistanis to capture huge Chinese market. He also said that China could play a vital role in formulating a common strategy for textiles with Pakistan and India as these three countries control 65 per cent of the cotton crop production. He said China was putting great stress on improving the technical aspects of its products.

He also said that Chinese textiles are facing great challenges in the global marketplace and this was a source of concern for the Chinese textile industry. Earlier, Chairman Site Association, Muhammad Nisar Shekhani highlighted the salient features of the bilateral trade between the two countries.

Majyd Aziz, ex-Chairman of SITE Association and Chairman of the International Relations Committee, dealt in detail with many facets of Pakistan-China relations.

Alluding to the reported statement of the Chinese Commerce Minister that the bilateral trade was in excess of $2.50 billion, he stated that there was a major disparity in Pakistani figures of about $850 million and the commerce minister's figures. This he attributed to smuggling, misdeclaration, and under invoicing of Chinese imports into Pakistan.

This is of serious concern and must be addressed by both governments on an urgent basis. He also called for joint ventures with China in women wear for the US apparel market so that Pakistan could take advantage of categories where it had not made any strong efforts.

He also called for outsourcing of orders to Pakistan by Chinese manufacturers so that Pakistani industries could work together with them in getting more share in the international trade regime.

In this connection, he also referred to the mammoth upsurge in Indo-China bilateral trade, which would cross the $7 billion mark this year and might go into double figures in 2004.