December 1, 2019
Amending Protocol to the Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (hereinafter referred to as the “Protocol”) enters into force on December 1, 2019.
This revision of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement is an important measure to implement the consensus of the leaders of the two countries and further enrich China-Pakistan’s all-weather strategic cooperative partnership. It is a vivid practice of advancing the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, a community of a shared future for mankind and a model for the construction of a free trade zone among developing countries. It is a concrete action to implement the UN’s consensus on South-South cooperation, which will promote the level of trade liberalization and facilitation, and deepen bilateral economic and trade cooperation.
The Protocol upgrades and revises the contents of the original free trade agreement on market access and tariff reduction schedules, rules of origin, trade remedies, and investment. And it adds a new chapter on customs cooperation. Among them, the core content is to substantially increase the level of liberalization of trade in goods on the basis of the original free trade agreement. The Protocol stipulates that the proportion of tariff lines with zero-tariff products between China and Pakistan will gradually increase from 35% to 75%. In addition, both parties will implement a 20% reduction in taxes on other products that account for 5% of their respective tax lines. After negotiations between China and Pakistan, the tariff reduction will be implemented as soon as possible after completing the necessary domestic procedures.
The China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement was signed in November 2006 and came into effect in July 2007. In order to further improve the level of trade liberalization and facilitation between the two countries, China and Pakistan launched the second phase of FTA negotiations in March 2011, and concluded the negotiations in April 2019 and signed the Protocol.
《中华人民共和国政府和巴基斯坦伊斯兰共和国政府关于修订<自由贸易协定>的议定书》（以下简称《议定书》）于2019年12月1日正式生效。
中巴此次修订自贸协定，是落实两国领导人共识、进一步丰富和充实中巴全天候战略合作伙伴关系的重要举措，是推进“一带一路”建设和构建人类命运共同体的生动实践，是发展中国家间自贸区建设的典范，是落实联合国南南合作系列共识的具体行动，将进一步提升两国间贸易自由化便利化水平、深化双边经贸合作。
《议定书》对原自贸协定中的货物贸易市场准入及关税减让表、原产地规则、贸易救济、投资等内容进行了升级和修订，并新增了海关合作章节。其中，核心内容是在原自贸协定基础上，大幅提高货物贸易自由化水平。《议定书》规定，中巴两国间相互实施零关税产品的税目数比例将从此前的35%逐步增加至75%。此外，双方还将对占各自税目数比例5%的其他产品实施20%幅度的部分降税。经中巴双方协商，关税减让将在完成必要国内程序后尽快实施。
中巴自贸协定于2006年11月签署，2007年7月生效实施。为进一步提高两国间贸易自由化便利化水平，中巴双方于2011年3月启动自贸协定第二阶段谈判，于2019年4月结束谈判并签署《议定书》。
Source: Ministry of Commerce Website