Any Chinese loans will be labelled as debt trap by the western media and even some aided countries domestic media, China had enough of that, Chinese investment in CPEC had been criticized by many parties from many countries for so long since day one. China is a result oriented country, as long as something can bring positive result, we always tend to ignore the process and details. Allow some more time and see what the result pans out.
I truly because China's heavy investment is out of friendship and trust, business wise China has many better choices where are more socially stable with safer investment , low risk and higher return investment environment, but China chose to risk with Pakistan because of long lasting friendship and trust. Investment in Kashmir means forever dispute with India, one of the biggest export market of China, China most times is a very cautious nation but this time China made the single biggest foreign investment worth tens of billions dollars in a very unstable and disputed region that no one in this world would ever do, you really think there is no voice of oppostion here back in China especially on the government upper level just because China is a communist country?
Because of China bashing over CPEC, Chinese government have to repeatedly makes statement to clarify the facts, Western anti China and anti CEPC propaganda campaign is very powerful and China now is struggling to fight back, that's the recent clarification of facts and figures about CPEC made by our minister of foreign affairs, Wangyi.
'我愿向大家介绍几个数字。走廊框架下目前共有22个合作项目,其中9个业已完工,13个在建,总投资190亿美元,带动巴每年经济增长1至2个百分点,给巴创造了7万个就业机会。王毅强调,关于债务问题,通过国际融资实施重大项目,是各国的通行做法。国际货币基金组织、亚洲开发银行等多年来向巴方提供了借货支持。目前巴方所持外债中,47%来自多边金融机构。而中巴经济走廓的22个项目中,18个由中方直接投资或提供援助,只有4个使用的是中方的优惠贷款。因此,可以明确的说,走廊项目并没有加重巴方的债务负担。相反,这些项目陆续建成运营,将释放应有经济效益,给巴方带来可观经济回报。'
Wang Yi: Far from Aggravating the Debt Burden of Pakistan, the Construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Has Delivered Tangible Outcomes
2018/09/08
On September 8, 2018, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi of Pakistan jointly met the press in Islamabad. When answering questions about whether the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) increased the debt burden of Pakistan, Wang Yi said that far from aggravating the debt burden of Pakistan, the construction of the CPEC has delivered tangible outcomes.
Wang Yi said that the CPEC is a major economic cooperation project carried out in response to the needs of the Pakistani side. Pakistan extended a helping hand to China when China faced difficulties. Therefore, China, a country valuing friendship and righteousness, is now willing to return the favor and help Pakistan accelerate economic and social development. I would like to introduce several figures to you.
There are currently 22 cooperation projects with a total investment of 19 billion US dollars under the framework of the CPEC, 9 of which have been completed and 13 are under construction, driving up the annual economic growth of Pakistan by 1 to 2 percentage points, and creating 70,000 jobs for Pakistan. These tangible outcomes could be seen by all. What I want to emphasize is that the construction of the CPEC is not designed for any specific region or group, but is opened to Pakistan as a whole and benefit all the Pakistani people.
Wang Yi pointed out that the early outcomes of the CPEC have been concentrated on energy and transportation infrastructure, which is both an urgent requirement of the Pakistani side and also a necessary stage for any country to go through in industrialization process. Since it would be impossible to develop manufacture and smooth logistics without electricity and roads, these projects would help break through the bottlenecks of Pakistan's economic development and lay an important foundation for further development of the CPEC. In terms of how we will advance the construction in the next stage, we will as always respect the will of the Pakistani side. The two sides have initially agreed that the development of the CPEC will gradually stretch deeper into industrial cooperation and focus on helping the Pakistani side develop manufacturing and foster independent development capabilities, thus boosting employment and expanding trade. At the same time, we will also dedicate to improving the livelihood of the Pakistani people, so as to let more of them reap benefits from the development of the CPEC.
Wang Yi emphasized that it is a common practice to deal with debt issues for all countries to implement major projects through international financing. For years, international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank have offered loans to the Pakistani side.
At present, 47 percent of the foreign debts held by the Pakistani side come from multilateral financial institutions. The Chinese side has directly invested in or provided assistance for 18 out of the 22 projects of the CPEC, and offered Chinese concessional loans to the remaining 4 projects. In this sense, it is crystal clear that far from increasing the debt burden of the Pakistani side, the projects of the CPEC, on the contrary, have delivered due economic benefits and brought the Pakistani side considerable economic rewards as the projects are gradually completed and put into operation.
Wang Yi said that regarding the "transparency" of the construction of the CPEC, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi and I agreed that "transparency" is never an issue for these projects which have been guaranteed by scientific verification and implementation of due procedures. Both China and Pakistan are willing to attract third parties to participate in the construction of the CPEC, so that the CPEC will not only benefit the people of China and Pakistan, but also make greater contributions to promoting regional economic cooperation and connectivity and achieving common development.
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/t1593886.shtml