Pakistan has suggested to China that the two countries co-operate in marketing their leather and textile goods in the international marketplace, after the current quota regime between the two countries comes to an end in 2005.

The suggestion was made last week by a delegation of the Board of Directors of the Pakistan-China Business Council, headed by Shaikh Javaid Ilyas.

Bilateral trade between China and Pakistan currently stands at $1.16 billion – a small proportion of China’s total overseas trade of $447 billion, said Mr Ilyas. The agreement, as proposed, would help towards increasing this figure while also paving the way to higher volumes of trade between Pakistan and Hong Kong.