"Pakistan is expected to enjoy the benefits in agriculture and fishery and the FTA will boost Pakistan's exports to China," said Hu Shisheng, an expert with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

It has also been reported that China will conduct FTA talks with India.

But Hu Shisheng told China Daily that the negotiations could not be finalized during President Hu's trip to New Delhi.

"It is too early for the two countries to clinch such a deal because India still has some worries about certain Chinese industrial sectors, such as manufacturing," the expert said.

However, China and India are expected to sign an agreement on protecting trade and investment, he noted.

This agreement is believed to be encouragement to investors from both sides.

China is India's second largest partner and bilateral trade is expected to exceed US$20 billion this year.

During his trip to India in April last year, Premier Wen and his Indian counterpart set a bilateral trade target of US$50 billion by 2010.

China has been talking with 27 countries and regions about the establishment of nine free trade areas, covering a quarter of China's total trade, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Last year China signed an FTA cargo trade agreement with Chile and started an all-round tariff reduction process with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The mainland, meanwhile, implemented a Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement with Hong Kong and Macao.

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