China will sign agreements with Pakistan and India to push forward economic and trade ties during President Hu Jintao's official visit to the two countries next week.

China and Pakistan have agreed on market access and "basically wrapped up" negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA), said Jiang Yu, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The fifth round of FTA negotiations between China and Pakistan was held between November 7 and November 10 in Beijing.

Jiang also explained that the trade arrangement between China and India is a regional trade arrangement (rather than a free trade agreement), on which a consensus was reached when Premier Wen visited India last April.

By People's Daily Online