The Pakistan China green channel will fast-track farm goods at Khunjerab. Exports through the pass were only Rs2.8bn last year.

Pakistan and China have agreed to open a green channel for farm goods at the Sost-Khunjerab border. The Pakistan China green channel gives agricultural and allied products priority customs processing and examination, with perishable consignments handled first. It is a small step on paper, but it targets an imbalance: the pass mostly carries Chinese goods south, not Pakistani goods north.

The short version

• The two customs administrations signed the agreement online at FBR headquarters on 29 October.
• An agreed list of agricultural products will get priority clearance, with risk-based controls kept in place.
• Last year, Khunjerab yielded a record Rs15bn in customs revenue on imports from China, while exports through it were worth Rs2.8bn.
• The pass is open only from April to November, so the first full season to test the channel is likely 2027.

What happened

On Thursday, 29 October, Pakistan’s customs team, led by Member Customs (Operations) Syed Shakeel Shah, and a Chinese delegation led by Li Qinghua, deputy head of Urumqi Customs and director of Tashkurgan Customs, signed the deal, Dawn and Profit reported. The Pakistani side included customs collectors from Peshawar and Gilgit-Baltistan and officials from the Department of Plant Protection, NAFSA, Pakistan Single Window and the Ministry of Commerce.

According to Dawn, the agreement sets up a green channel for an agreed list of agricultural products, so that eligible consignments get priority processing and examination while risk-based controls remain. It also provides for priority handling of perishable goods to cut delays at the border. Khunjerab, at 15,500 feet, is the highest paved international border crossing. The two countries signed its border protocol in 1985.

Khunjerab mostly carries goods into Pakistan, not out

Trade through Khunjerab last year, Rs billion. Note the two bars measure different things: duty collected on imports, and the value of exports.

Customs revenue collected on imports from China

Rs15bn

Value of exports to China and Central Asia

Rs2.8bn

Why it matters

The duty collected on imports through Khunjerab last year was more than five times the value of everything exported through it. A faster lane for farm goods is one of the few levers that could shift that balance, because agricultural produce loses value with every day it waits at a border. It also fits a wider problem: the Pakistan China trade deficit pushed Pakistan’s regional trade gap up 26.6%, and another land route, to Afghanistan, has seen trade fall while the border stayed shut.

The knock-on effects

First order: quicker clearance for listed farm goods

Traders moving goods on the agreed list should spend less time at Sost and Tashkurgan, and perishable loads get priority. The products on the list have not been published in the reports we read.

Second order: a lower cost for northern growers

Less spoilage and shorter waits lower the cost of selling into China by road. That matters most for growers and traders in Gilgit-Baltistan, the closest producing region to the pass.

Third order: a test for overland CPEC trade

If the channel works, it could be a model for other product lists and crossings. But the pass closes for winter, so any gain this year is limited to the weeks before it shuts. This is analysis; neither side has given volume targets.

Who could benefit

• Agricultural exporters whose products make the agreed list.
• Gilgit-Baltistan traders and transporters working the Karakoram route.
• Customs and plant-protection staff, who get a clearer, rules-based process.

Who may face pressure

• Exporters of goods not on the list, who stay in the normal queue.
• Local producers competing with Chinese farm imports, if the channel speeds trade both ways.
• Border agencies, which must keep food-safety checks credible while moving faster.

What to watch

• Publication of the agreed product list by FBR or the Ministry of Commerce.
• The pass’s seasonal closure at the end of November.
• Export figures through Khunjerab when the pass reopens in April 2027.

Sources

• Dawn, Pakistan, China sign agreement to operationalise green channel at Sost-Khunjerab border, 29 October 2026
• Dawn, Pakistan, China open green channel for trade, 30 October 2026
• Profit, Pakistan, China sign Green Channel trade agreement, 30 October 2026

This is analysis, not investment advice. Figures are as of 30 October 2026. Knock-On is not affiliated with any political party.