ISLAMABAD: Pakistan exported eight shipments of 35 tons of Himalayan rock salt to China via the Khunjerab border crossing between June and July this year, China’s state-owned CGTN news channel reported on Wednesday.

Situated at 5,000 meters above sea level, the Khunjerab Pass is the world’s highest paved international border crossing and serves as a key trade route linking China and Pakistan, enabling trade for Chinese imports and exports between South Asia and Europe.

Trade activities between the two countries through the Khunjerab Pass go on each year from April to November. Trade activity between China and Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) began via the Karakoram Highway, which passes through Khunjerab, in November 2016.

The border point was temporarily closed in 2019 to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, but reopened in April this year with a resumption of cross-border trade activities.

“From June to July this year, we received eight shipments [of Himalayan rock salt], amounting to 35 tons [from Pakistan],” China’s customs director at the Khunjerab Port, Zhang Xiaobo, told CGTN.

In addition to rock salt, China also imported copper, wooden handicrafts, and carpets from Pakistan, the official added.

“Import and export volume across the Khunjerab Port stand at 40 to 80 thousand tons per year, while the daily imports are about 471.6 tons,” he said.

Pakistani traders regularly utilize buses plying between the two nations for trade purposes and are granted a tax-free trade quota of $1,100 per day. This growing convenience is increasingly appealing to Pakistani exporters who in the past used the considerably longer sea route to transport goods to China.

Last week, China and Pakistan initiated an international road transport (TIR) route connecting China’s Kashgar and Pakistan’s Islamabad, potentially establishing a model for future trade routes within the CPEC project. The first cargo crossed into Pakistan via this route on August 27.

Longtime ally Beijing has pledged over $65 billion for CPEC infrastructure projects in Pakistan as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) since 2013. The corridor includes a network of roads, railways, pipelines, and ports in Pakistan, linking China to the Arabian Sea and aiding Islamabad’s economic expansion and modernization.

Currently, trade between China and Pakistan exceeds $12.06 billion, up nearly 19 percent compared to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.