Pakistan is one of the first groups of countries that have recognized China. On May 21, 1951, the two countries officially established the diplomatic relations. Since then, China and Pakistan have witnessed smooth development of friendly and neighborly relations as well as mutually beneficial cooperation.

Since early 1950, China and Pakistan have established trade relations and started trade transactions. In January 1963, the two countries signed the first trade agreement. In October 1982, China-Pakistan Joint Committee on Economic, Trade, Scientific and Technology Cooperation was set up. With the joint efforts of both sides, Sino-Pakistani economic and trade cooperation has seen good progress. Especially since the 1990s, their bilateral trade volume has witnessed fast growth. In 2006, the trade volume achieved a record high surpassing US$ 5 billion.

Currently, China-Pakistan trade and economic relations have maintained a good momentum of development. In 2006, both sides signed the 5-year Development Program on Economic and Trade Cooperation, which set down the major fields and programs for bilateral economic and trade cooperation, as well as the trade target of $ 15 billion by 2010. Meanwhile, both sides signed the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which will come into effect from July 1st, 2007. Also, other 20 agreements and MOUs were signed covering bilateral cooperation of economic and trade, agriculture, science and technology, education, etc..

For the coming years, both sides agreed to make joint efforts for further harnessing the potential for expanding trade, investment and joint ventures in various economic sectors.