BEIJING: The 2026 Pakistan Investment & Business Environment Exchange Forum was held in Guangzhou recently, drawing over 160 government officials, business leaders and trade representatives through a hybrid format of online and offline participation.

The event marked the fifth edition of the forum and was held to deepen economic cooperation and celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan.

Hosted by the Guangzhou International Cooperation Center (GICC) and the Consulate General of Pakistan in Guangzhou, and organized by Mera PC Solution (Guangzhou) and the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the forum featured a rich agenda that included policy presentations, project roadshows, industrial signing ceremonies, cultural and creative product launches, targeted business-to-business matchmaking, and a tasting of Pakistani mangoes, a sweet symbol of the agricultural bonds between the two countries.

In a video address, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, emphasized the event’s significance in deepening people-to-people, economic and agricultural ties. “Mango is one of Pakistan’s most unique treasures,” he said. “We see China as a market of huge importance and enormous future potential. Our objective is not merely to increase the volume of mango exports; we want to build a reliable, sustainable supply relationship between Pakistani exporters and their Chinese counterparts.”

Echoing that vision, Yang Guangyuan, Minister-Counsellor of the Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, delivered a video speech highlighting the remarkable trade momentum. In the first half of 2026, Pakistan’s exports to China totaled $1.87 billion, a year-on-year increase of 50.3 percent. He expressed the hope that entrepreneurs would seize the opportunities presented by the forum to explore new business avenues and inject fresh momentum into bilateral economic cooperation.

Highlighting that Guangzhou boasts a comprehensive industrial system and a high level of openness, Tu Hongzhe, deputy director general level official of the Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office, further explained that “as sister cities, Guangzhou and Lahore have maintained close exchanges over the years, achieving fruitful results in light manufacturing, agricultural trade, transit trade, information technology, leather and footwear with vast room for further expansion.”

Muhammad Imran, Pakistan’s Trade and Investment Counsellor in Guangzhou, presented encouraging figures that underscored the deepening economic interdependence. “In the second half of fiscal year 2025-26 (January to June 2026), Pakistan’s exports to Guangdong reached $227.73 million, up from $188.57 million in the same period the previous year, an increase of approximately 21 percent,” he shared, adding that the growth was driven primarily by copper anodes and a substantial rise in broken rice shipments. In 2025, Guangdong exported $3.352 billion worth of goods to Pakistan, a clear sign of the complementarity between the two economies, CEN reported.

Muzammil Zia, Director General of the CPEC Secretariat at Pakistan’s Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, shared insights on how the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor continues to provide a robust framework for industrial and infrastructure cooperation. Uzair Iqbal, representing the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, echoed the private sector’s eagerness to forge lasting partnerships with Chinese counterparts.

Business voices from both sides added a pragmatic note to the discussions. James Yu, General Manager of the Corporate Business Division at SGMW Overseas Department, and Leo Lee, representing Farshine Medical Technology, shared their experiences in navigating cross-border investment and trade. Mandy Guo, Director of GICC, reaffirmed the center’s commitment to building a high-quality platform for sustained government-enterprise cooperation between Guangdong and Pakistan.

The forum featured project roadshows covering Chinese and Pakistani new energy solutions, Pakistani e-commerce, home furnishings and building materials, and food processing, showcasing the diversity of sectors ready for deeper engagement.

The most tangible outcome came in the form of 5 memorandums of understanding signed on the occasion, covering electric vehicle joint venture promotion, battery factory development, building materials and furniture cooperation, pine nut procurement, and international medical and business tourism collaboration