By IANS,
Beijing : Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari Friday expressed optimism over a possible road link with China, saying its construction would boost bilateral trade.
Zardari is on a five-day visit to China, the fifth tour to the country since he took over as the president in 2008.
The president said he had his own “concept” for improving Pakistan-China trade relations. A road connection with China was one of his ideas to make this happen.
“If you want to come to Pakistan or southeast Asia from China by sea, it will take months, but if you look at the road transportation to my port, it’s only 1,100 miles from your border,” Zardari was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
Zardari’s remarks came amid reports that both the countries were considering building a rail link to reach the Arabian Sea.
“The concept has been accepted,” Zardari said without elaborating.
At present, there are over 120 Chinese companies and about 10,000 Chinese nationals in Pakistan, involved in sectors such as mining, energy exploration and infrastructure.
But Zardari said Pakistan needs more investment.
Trade between the two countries in the first five months of 2010 reached $3.3 billion, reports said.
While addressing the China-Pakistan Economic Cooperation Forum earlier Friday, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said bilateral trade could hit $15 billion by 2015.