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Pakistan on Monday announced an agreement with China to use Chinese currency for bilateral trade to end the burden of relying on U.S. dollars.
"China and Pakistan agreed to start trading in the yuan instead of the dollar," Fawad Chaudhry, minister of information, told reporters in Islamabad.
This agreement, reached during the Pakistani premier’s current visit to China, would help Pakistan get rid of the dollar burden in $15 billion of bilateral trade, he added.
Imran Khan’s four-day official visit to China is ending Monday.
Pakistani authorities have launched a nationwide move against protesters involved violence and damage in last week's protests against the acquittal of a Christian woman accused of blasphemy, local media reported Monday.On Wednesday, the Supreme Court acquitted Aasia Bibi who had been sentenced to death by a district court in November 2010 for blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad.Police in the northeastern Punjab province arrested 1,100 suspects involved in rioting and damaging public and private property, according to English daily Dawn.Meanwhile, 120 people belonging to various groups were arrested in the capital Islamabad.On Saturday, the interior ministry ordered the provincial governments to arrest all people who were involved in the attacks on the police as well as those who damaged vehicles and public properties.Pakistan's slain religious scholar laid to restLife back to normal after protests end in PakistanChina says more talks needed on economic aid for Pakistan"State is concerned for the loss of citizen, we will leave no stone unturned to identify the source of vandalism and will stand for all the citizen who suffered from the people who vandalized property of innocent people," Interior Minister Shehryar Afridi said in a tweet."Pakistan has to rise and such anonymous forces will be unveiled," Afridi added.On Friday, the government reached an agreement with religious groups, including the newly-emerged Sunni group, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) -- who had blocked the roads across the country and halted daily life -- to end protest.The religious groups agreed to call off the protest following government assurances of placing a travel ban on Bibi and no objection to a review petition against the verdict in the top court.The government also agreed with TLP to release all protesters who were arrested by the police during the violent protest.The move to release the suspects who damaged public property and attacked the police was largely criticized by the public on social media .In Pakistan, blasphemy against Islam or Prophet Muhammad is a criminal offense that can carry the death penalty. While the state has never executed anyone under the law, mere allegations have stirred mass protests and violence.China, Pakistan vow to safeguard economic corridor planChina, Pakistan ink agreements on bilateral cooperationPakistan, Turkey to sign free trade agreement 'soon'
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The move to Chinese currency would also help both countries replace the U.S. dollar for their transactions and investment in the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
This June, the State Bank of Pakistan formally allowed both public and private enterprises to use Chinese currency for bilateral trade and investment activities.
The $54-billion CPEC project aims to connect China's strategically important northwestern Xinxiang province to the Pakistani port of Gwadar, Baluchistan through a network of roads, railways, and pipelines to transport cargo, oil, and gas.
The economic corridor would not only provide China cheaper access to Africa and the Mideast but also earn Pakistan billions of dollars for providing transit facilities to the world’s second-largest economy.
The Pakistani lawyer who helped free a Christian woman who had been sentenced to death in Pakistan for blasphemy has fled to the Netherlands, a Dutch Christian rights group said on Monday.Asia Bibi's lawyer, Saiful Mulook, left Pakistan on Saturday, due to fear that he could be attacked after Bibi's conviction was overturned on Wednesday, the Association for Persecuted Christians said.Bibi was convicted of blasphemy in 2010 for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Islam, and had been sentenced to death. Mulook helped overturn the decision, and has been threatened by angry mobs calling for the judges in the case to be killed.Two Pakistani politicians who tried to help Bibi have been assassinated. Several parties in Dutch parliament have said they support providing temporary shelter to Bibi if she flees there.Major cities in Pakistan have been shut down through days of demonstrations against Bibi's. They have said they would escalate their protests if she were permitted to leave the country. The government has indicated it will bar her from travelling abroad. China, Pakistan vow to safeguard economic corridor planHusband of freed Pakistani Christian woman appeals to Trump for refuge
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Under current foreign exchange regulations, the Chinese yuan (CNY) is an approved foreign currency for denominating foreign currency transactions in Pakistan, like other international currencies such as the U.S. dollar and euro.
The State Bank of Pakistan has already put in place the required regulatory framework facilitating the use of the yuan in trade and investment transactions such as the opening of letters of credit and availing financing facilities.