CWA # 131

The BRI Summit 2019

Higher than the Himalayas: Pakistan and China

Raakhavee Ramesh 12 June 2019

Photo Source: The Print

As of January 2019, CPEC included 9 completed early yield projects and 13 projects under construction, with a total investment of US$19 billion. It drove Pakistan’s economic growth by one to two percentage every year and created 70,000 jobs in Pakistan and free assistance for some livelihood projects in Pakistan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted around 5,000 delegates from across the globe at the Belt and Road forum in Beijing from April 25 to 27 to talk over his signature infrastructure project, which began in 2013 to reconstruct ancient trading routes through Eurasia. This year’s meeting mainly focused on addressing international criticism by keeping down its rhetoric and tightening oversight. Compared with his speech two years ago, Xi was more low-key on the Belt and Road initiative’s growing presence in other countries and had fewer concrete proposals. The President focused more on glancing criticism and suspicions about the multibillion-dollar initiative and stuck to discussing steps on China taking to clean up the project, and vowed “zero tolerance” on corruption. Besides the 37 heads of state or government in attendance at the BRI conference, the event was also marked by the presence of CEOs of industrial and business concerns, IFIs and other international organizations.

By making the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) the poster child of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has capitalized a huge amount into the project. The CPEC has come to signify an important indicator of how things could possibly develop for the countries that have received investment along the new Silk Road. With US$62 billion of investment, Pakistan branded the CPEC a ‘game changer’ aimed at benefitting the whole of Pakistan. CPEC's potential impact on Pakistan has been compared to that of the Marshall Plan commenced by the United States in post-war Europe. 

CPEC - A cooperation plan concentrating on energy, transportation infrastructure, industrial park cooperation, and Gwadar Port has been executed in the outline of this corridor. China and Pakistan have recognized the Joint Cooperation Committee of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which meets regularly. Smooth improvement can be witnessed in a number of projects. Key projects, such as the road to the Gwadar Port, Peshawar-Karachi Motorway, Karakoram Highway

Phase II, Lahore Orange Line Metro, and 1,320MW Coal-Fired Power Plants at Port Qasim have been launched. Some projects have already brought profits. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is open to third parties for cooperation, and more countries have joined or voiced a willingness to participate.

Assessing the performance of the first phase of CPEC, Mr Khan noted with satisfaction that Pakistan’s energy supplies had increased immensely, critical infrastructure gaps were being plugged, Gwadar that was once a small fishing village was renovated into a commercial hub, which oversees some of the world’s busiest oil and gas shipping lanes, while Gwadar airport was going to be the largest in the country. He also acknowledged that Pakistan was amongst BRI’s earliest and most enthusiastic proponents. The corridor investment has upgraded transportation linkages and efficiently resolved years of crippling power crisis facing the country. CPEC has regarded the alleviation of energy shortage in Pakistan as one of the important areas of construction since its launch. Currently, 12 projects with a total installed capacity of 7,240 MW have been commenced or put into operation.

Since the country is entering the second phase, he has stressed the need to counter climate change and poverty through Sino-Pak joint efforts. He also mentioned agricultural cooperation and industrial development. CPEC has resolved the problem of inadequate investment capacity caused by insufficient savings and lack of foreign exchange in Pakistan.

As of January 2019, CPEC included 9 completed early yield projects and 13 projects under construction, with a total investment of US$19 billion. It drove Pakistan’s economic growth by one to two percentage every year and created 70,000 jobs in Pakistan and free assistance for some livelihood projects in Pakistan. They expect that CPEC will result in the creation of millions of jobs, and add 2 - 2.5 percentages to the country's annual economic growth. More than 30 Chinese and Pakistani enterprises, including hospitality, banking, insurance, financial leasing, logistics, overseas warehousing, grain and oil processing, fishery processing and home appliance assembly, started working at the free zone. CPEC will ultimately give landlocked western Chinese regions the shortest and a more secure route to international markets through Gwadar port. It may be a bilateral endeavour, but NewDelhi cannot ignore its spillover effects on regional governance.

However, not all seemed well as China was not capable to convince Pakistan to revive the Diamer-Bhasha project. Pakistan, which has been at the forefront of BRI due to the CPEC is taking a thoughtful approach towards some of the projects they have signed earlier. Islamabad has already walked out of the $14 billion Diamer-Bhasha dam project that was part of the CPEC, quoting strict monetary conditions imposed by Beijing, due to lack of financial authority and weak environmental standards.

China’s efforts to rebrand and assimilate the Belt and Road’s image did have some success, drawing eight more heads of state to this year’s conference. While Beijing and Islamabad have conventionally maintained close defense ties, both the countries say their deepening economic cooperation in recent years has cemented the overall relationship.