China, Pakistan pledge stronger tech and trade cooperation amid US charm offensive | South China Morning Post

Agriculture, space and trade top the agenda during Pakistani prime minister’s visit to Beijing

By Alice Li

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3324517/china-pa...

China and Pakistan have pledged to expand trade and deepen technological cooperation in areas ranging from agriculture to space exploration, at a time when Islamabad is warming to the United States.

During a meeting on Thursday with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Premier Li Qiang said Beijing would advance the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship infrastructure project under the Belt and Road Initiative.

“Global instability and uncertainty have grown this year,” Li said. “China stands ready to maintain close high-level exchanges with Pakistan, deepen strategic trust and strengthen cooperation.”

Sharif also expressed a willingness to expand cooperation in artificial intelligence, agriculture and trade, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

On Wednesday, People’s Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece, published an article by Sharif in which he praised Beijing’s support for Pakistan’s technological progress, particularly in agriculture and space science.

“In its early days, the China-Pakistan partnership centred on strengthening political trust and security cooperation,” Sharif wrote. “Today, it spans far beyond politics and defence, extending into economic, scientific and cultural fields.”

Sharif said the expanded cooperation was only natural, given China’s technological progress combined with Pakistan’s young workforce and strategic location.

The latest meeting between Chinese and Pakistani officials – whose relationship is often described as “ironclad” – took place against the backdrop of increased communications between Islamabad and Washington. The US has promised to cooperate with Pakistan on counterterrorism and increase investments in oil and other natural resources.

China, meanwhile, had invested over US$65 billion in the CPEC and ramped up its support for Pakistan’s technological development.
In late August, a second group of Pakistani agricultural technicians arrived in China under a programme signed last year, in which Beijing pledged to train 1,000 professionals. The first group completed the course in July.

China had also closely collaborated with Pakistan in the aerospace sector, launching a remote sensing satellite for the country from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in July – two months after sending up a multi-mission communication satellite for Islamabad.
In April, the China Manned Space Agency announced that a Pakistani astronaut would join future missions as a payload specialist – a first for an overseas astronaut.
Also on Thursday, China and Pakistan signed an action plan pledging closer collaboration in marine technology, aerospace and artificial intelligence through basic research, talent development and technological innovation.

‘We’re scared of losing our jobs’: industries in India fear impact of Trump’s 50% tariffs

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/05/scared-losing-jobs-in...

Textiles, footwear, jewellery, gems and seafood are sectors most affected in trade with US, India’s biggest market

India has long been one of the world’s great garment houses, turning out everything from cheap T-shirts to intricate embroidery. Last year, textile and garment exports to the US alone fetched £21bn, riding a wave of strong consumer demand.

Now the trade is in jeopardy. With the stroke of a pen, the US president, Donald Trump, last week slapped a 50% tariff on more than half of India’s £65bn worth of merchandise exports to the country’s largest market. A supply chain once prized for being cheap suddenly became among the priciest.

The scale of the hit is sobering. Christopher Wood, the global head of equity strategy at the investment bank Jefferies, puts the economic blow at £41bn-£45bn, singling out textiles, footwear, jewellery and gems, all of which are highly labour-intensive, as “the most negatively impacted”.

The pain is visible in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu’s booming textile hub. “We’re scared of losing our jobs. Many of us borrowed money to come here. If the factories cut workers, we will have nothing,” Harihar Pradhan, a 32-year-old migrant worker from Odisha told the Times of India.

Tirupur’s half a million workers churn out cotton T-shirts, tracksuits and undergarments. They are shipped worldwide, but Americans have always been the biggest customers. Factories in Tirupur, as well as Noida in Uttar Pradesh, near Delhi, and Gujarat, are already shuttering production lines, according to the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).

Alongside textiles, India’s gems, jewellery and seafood industries face the same tariffs: 50%, compared with 15-20% for competitors in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and South Korea.

Effective rates, once exemptions and existing duties are folded in, are even more punishing: 62% for ready-made garments, up from 12%, and 60% for shrimp, for example. “That’s a massive competitive disadvantage,” said Aurodeep Nandi, an economist at the Asian investment bank Nomura.

Margins in these industries were razor-thin to begin with. The new tariffs could push them into loss-making territory, threatening factory closures, mass job losses and the unravelling of supply chains built over decades.


Kirit Bhansali, the chair of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, warned of “devastation”. The US “is our single largest market, accounting for over $10bn [£7.4bn] in exports – nearly 30% of our industry’s total global trade,” he said. “A blanket tariff of this magnitude will inflate costs, delay shipments, distort pricing and place immense pressure on every part of the value chain. We fear exports to the US could fall by over 75%, impacting polished diamonds, jewellery and coloured gemstones alike.”

Indian exporters rushed shipments to the US in August to beat the fall of the tariff hammer. “If the tariffs stick even for just three to six months, I fear India will lose a major share of this [apparel and garment] business,” said Pallab Banerjee, a senior executive at Pearl Global Industries, a leading garment manufacturing firm. A Jaipur exporter added: “Global buyers are highly price-sensitive. Even a 5% tariff difference can turn away buyers.”

Pearl Global can shift orders to factories abroad. But most Indian firms lack that luxury.

The stakes for India’s government are political as well as economic. The prime minister, Narendra Modi, has pitched manufacturing as a way to provide jobs to the millions of young Indians who join the labour force each year. These industries employ tens of millions, directly and indirectly.

Congress Kerala
@INCKerala
Our trade with China:

Exports: $14.25B
Imports: $113.5B
Deficit: $99.25B

Our trade with Russia:

Exports: $4.88B
Imports: $67.15B
Deficit: $62.27B

Our trade with US:

Exports: $86.50B
Imports: $38.99B
Surplus: $47.51B

What this news tells us that even after 11 years and Modi meeting Xi Jinping more than 20 times, we still don't have access to Chinese market. We are running nearly half of our deficit with China. The recent visit means that China will have more unbridled access to the Indian market.

And Modi-Trump ego clash is killing our US market access too. Where are we really headed? What will our farmers do? What will our industries do?

https://x.com/INCKerala/status/1964175320342528441