ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China on Wednesday reviewed the Quadrilateral Traffic in Transit Agreement (QTTA) with the aim of positioning it as Central Asia’s most efficient trade link to Pakistani seaports, according to Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq.

The QTTA, signed in 1995 by Pakistan, China, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, provides a framework for land-based transit trade through the Karakoram Highway.

It is designed to connect Central Asian states with Pakistan’s ports at Gwadar and Karachi, enhancing regional connectivity while avoiding less stable transit routes.

In a post on X, Sadiq said a meeting was chaired involving Pakistani stakeholders and Chinese officials to review the agreement, which governs transit from Pakistani ports to Central Asia via China, including routes aligned with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

“Some traffic on this route had been continuing for years, but it is on the rise in recent months,” he said.

He added that “with some adjustments” the framework could become Central Asia’s most “efficient link” with Pakistani seaports.

The meeting coincided with a two-day official visit to Pakistan by Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, underscoring renewed momentum for regional transport and trade cooperation.

Speaking at a joint press stakeout with President Tokayev, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said both sides had agreed to deepen economic ties and expand regional connectivity.

“We have agreed to the Belarus-Russia-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan transport corridor to enhance our regional connectivity,” Sharif said.

Both countries have also set a target to raise bilateral trade to $1 billion within the next year, as part of broader efforts to strengthen multi-country transport corridors linking Central and South Asia.

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Pakistan, China push transit pact to link Central Asia ports