In 2006, the two countries signed the FTA, bringing more Chinese investment into Pakistan. By 2010, it had invested an accumulated $1.37 billion in Pakistan, according to the Ministry of Commerce, and in 2010 alone, the figure was $26.1 million.

"The investment is relatively large, and it is mainly in energy," Tariq Puri, chief executive of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, told China Daily.

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After Thursday's forum, Ruba Group, Pakistan's leading industrial and trade group, signed agreements with the energy companies China Huadian Group and Tebian Electrical Apparatus Stock Co.

In late 2006, when the bilateral FTA was signed, the Pakistan-China Special Economic Zone was established, the first such zone China established overseas. The zone aims to facilitate Chinese investment into Pakistan, especially in the manufacturing sector.

China's Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said bilateral trade could reach $15 billion by 2015.

"As the China-Pakistan FTA is gradually implemented, such a goal will easily be reached," said Wan.

Puri agreed. "The bilateral trade would be probably more than that then."

Pakistan is China's second-largest trade partner in South Asia. In 2010, bilateral trade grew by 27.7 percent from a year earlier to $8.67 billion, with exports increasing by 25.5 percent to $6.94 billion and imports by 37.2 percent to $1.73 billion.

China exports chemicals, telecommunications equipment and machinery to Pakistan, and it imports textiles and minerals.