China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) | Updates & Discussions

[JSCh]

Projects agreed to boost ties as Chinese VP visits Pakistan
By Yang Sheng Source:Global Times Published: 2019/5/27 22:13:40 Last Updated: 2019/5/28 1:35:00

Cooperation to focus more on improving livelihood of locals

Representatives of China and Pakistan attend the First Meeting of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor Political Parties Joint Consultation Mechanism held in Beijing in March to discuss cooperation and implementation in Pakistan of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. Photo: Li Hao/GT

China-Pakistan cooperation in the next phase will focus more on benefiting people through local projects that improve livelihood along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Chinese experts said on Monday as Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan was visiting Pakistan and the two countries boosted their cooperation on multiple projects.

Wang arrived in Islamabad on Sunday for his three-day visit until Tuesday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Zhao Lijian, a senior diplomat at the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, tweeted on Monday that the two countries signed five memorandums of understanding including 1 billion yuan ($145 million) for the social sector and 40 million yuan for disaster relief.

Lin Minwang, a professor at Fudan University's Center for South Asian Studies, told the Global Times that "the new [Pakistani] government hopes construction of the CPEC brings more benefits to the locals, so Wang's visit and the documents signed by the two countries show that China is giving a positive response and taking concrete steps to support its partner."

Wang and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday launched four mega development projects in the fields of energy, technology and education under the CPEC, according to the website of the corridor project.

The first project is a 660-kilovolt transmission line to be laid between Matiari and Lahore and transmit power from coal plants located at Thar, Port Qasim and Hub.

The project will have the capacity to supply 2,000 megawatts with a 10 percent overload capability for two hours, the report said.

The second one is the Rashakai Special Economic Zone project to promote industrialization through optimally priced, world-class industrial infrastructure in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The project is designed and set to become "the key trade and logistics hub connecting Kashgar, Kabul and Gwadar on the Belt and Road, and be a high-end host of international commercial, technological and manufacturing hub," Urdu Piont reported.

These projects could bring jobs and boost economic income for the ordinary people as well as living standards as more stable electric power is provided, Lin said. "Khan's government wants to make Pakistani people really feel the change and benefits brought from the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the CPEC," he said.

Rana Ali Qaisar, general secretary of the international department of the National Party of Pakistan, told the Global Times Monday that "the visit by Vice President Wang shows that China has never changed its support for its iron brother. The relationship and cooperation between the countries will not be affected by a political power transition within our country."

Wang said on Monday that "I am confident the CPEC will add new impetus to development in Pakistan besides furthering regional development. I am happy to know that supporting CPEC is a consensus among all parties and ethnic groups across Pakistan," Pakistan Today reported.

Education, technology

The Confucius Institute at the University of Punjab was also launched at the ceremony. The institute mainly provides education of Chinese language, cultural promotion and cultural exchanges and other projects and activities.

With the development of the CPEC, the demand for Chinese speakers in Pakistan will be increased and it is important for China to build more such institutes in Pakistan, Lin noted.

Qaisar said that boosting educational cooperation between the two countries is always a hot topic proposed by Pakistani delegations who visited China and "Vice President Wang's ongoing visit has brought great progress in this aspect."

The ceremony attended by Wang and Khan also marked the launch of the Huawei Technical Support Center to be established in Pakistan as part of Chinese tech giant's commitment to make a massive investment in Pakistan.

The activities of Chinese firms in Pakistan will increase for sure and the use of Huawei equipment in Pakistan will also be increased, Lin noted. Establishing a technical support center shows that the two sides want to reinforce technological support for CPEC

 

[Asian.Century]

Towards CPEC 3.0

THE Belt and Road Initiative has attracted praise and critique since its inception in 2013. The response is not unnatural for the transnational endeavour that could mobilise an investment of $1.3 trillion by 2027 and will potentially change the geo-economics of partner countries and regions. It remains to be seen, however, if BRI’s architects will follow in the footsteps of Western hegemons or seek mutually beneficial partnerships.

The West, led by the US, is becoming more wary of China’s bolstering economic muscle with every passing day. The country has faced more intense scrutiny since 2015 when it announced ‘Made in China 2025’, a plan to spearhead high-tech industrial development. Beijing presents it as an effort to circumvent the middle-income trap, but Western countries accuse it of mercantilism and subsidising Chinese firms heavily for a competitive edge over their Western rivals.

On the political front, Western strategists equate BRI with debt-trap diplomacy to sow the seeds of distrust. The accusation is ironically levelled by the architects and custodians of the Bretton Woods system. Besides, it emanates from a policy to limit China from playing an assertive role in the developing world, which may undermine the West’s contemporary dominance. Pakistan — the host of BRI’s crown jewel, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor — has strategic ties with China, which both countries are striving to deepen further. Our analysts argue CPEC is a historic opportunity for Pakistan to leapfrog into the 21st century.

The success of CPEC is crucial for Beijing to place itself as a trusted partner for the Global South.

In this backdrop, it’s barely noted that the corridor is now a test case for Beijing too to demonstrate its ability of becoming a trusted partner for the Global South. It is nonetheless incumbent on the Pakistani government to remain cognisant of channelling the benefits of CPEC towards our youth and poorer population. No matter how sincerely Beijing pursues CPEC, we cannot discount the fact that its own economic interests, not inherently exploitative though, would hold supreme, and we must realise that sooner rather than later.

As President Xi presses ahead with his flagship initiative and presents BRI as a common development goal, our decision-makers should aim to nurture a long-term partnership that yields equitable dividends. This necessitates an understanding of the needs of our economy for today and for tomorrow and prioritising the areas that hold all-out benefits. Likewise, Beijing must pursue economic ties with Islamabad based on the principles of transparency and shared prosperity, regardless of our much weaker economic might.

Despite some politicking regarding CPEC’s initial priorities, it was carefully crafted because the provision of energy and transport infrastructure is a prerequisite for economic advancement. The second phase prioritises agriculture, digital connectivity, industry, tourism etc. As this economic integration accelerates, future collaboration, CPEC 3.0, should be manoeuvred towards high-tech sectors — namely telecom, electric mobility and renewables, where China is an emerging global leader — to optimise CPEC’s benefits.

In the telecom industry, China’s Huawei has become a leading equipment supplier and is among the world’s most innovative companies with nearly 88,000 patents as of December 2018. Analysts believe it is set to lead the world in the rollout of the future’s most promising, and critical, technology: fifth-generation (5G) mobile telecom infrastructure. As of April 2019, Huawei had signed more than 40 5G contracts globally, proving that the firm can commercialise its solutions faster than its Western and Asian rivals.

Many Chinese tech giants are already present in Pakistan. Since digital connectivity and infrastructure are essential for tomorrow’s economies, future cooperation in this area should form a major pillar of CPEC. Regardless of the US government’s fierce opposition, Chinese tech giants will be at the forefront of advancements in the telecom industry. Therefore, B2B partnerships could help Pakistan’s budding ICT sector to develop capacities by engaging with Chinese partners. Meanwhile, Chinese firms can target the vast untapped potential of Pakistani market.

Concerned chiefly about its soaring dependence on imported fuels and worsening urban pollution — challenges we can relate with — the Chinese government implemented several corrective measures. Since taking the reins in 2013, President Xi has stressed the need for sustainability more than his predecessors. Resultantly, China is a leader in the renewables industry and the largest market for electric vehicles (EVs). According to Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy, by December 2018 China had 181 gigawatt of wind and 175GW of solar PV capacity — a whopping one-third of installations worldwide.

Although Western original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) dominate the global wind turbine value chain, Chinese PV suppliers are rivalled by none, albeit facing anti-dumping duties by many countries. Chinese turbine OEMs have struggled to lure investors outside their domestic market, but thanks to CPEC, they hold a 30pc share in Pakistan’s nascent wind energy market. Chinese turbine OEMs are willing to localise production for future installations, which can lay the foundation for tech transfer — yet another incentive that sets renewables apart from thermal power.

China leads the world in emerging trends in e-mobility. It has over 200 million electric two-wheelers and recorded sales of 1m EVs in 2018 — more than the rest of the world combined. According to McKinsey, a consultancy, the success of Chinese OEMs is more pronounced in the e-bus segment — of the 97,000 urban buses sold in China in 2018, 87,000 were electric.

Beijing has a goal that one-fifth of vehicles sold in China by 2025 should be electric, which will catalyse exponential growth in EV sales and help Chinese manufacturers consolidate their strengths. Advancements in these sectors will create further synergies. For instance, 5G connectivity is necessary to commercialise autonomous EVs and robo-taxis, which will rely on artificial intelligence and fuelled (ideally) through renewables.

This is not to suggest that China will help us become an important player in these futuristic technologies. That thought is far-fetched. Nevertheless, by aiding Islamabad in these areas to address the economic and environmental challenges it faces, Beijing will vindicate President Xi’s stated vision of BRI and legitimise its leadership in the developing world. Or else we must tone down the enthusiasm that encircles CPEC and reassess the allocation of our scarce institutional resources for better outcomes.

The writer is an analyst specialising in energy policy and political economy.
Twitter: @sohaibrmalik

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2019

https://www.dawn.com/news/1484851

 

[Samlee]

Unlike The West China Has Historically Been More Open To Sharing Technology.That Makes Them Relatively Popular

 

[Maxpane]

chance for Pakistan to avail this opportunity

 

[ghazi52]

$1.5 Billion - $2 Billion National Science and Technology Park gets approval

National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) has secured the approval to initiate working on its latest project, which is “National Science & #Technology Park” from the Public-Private Partnership Authority’s (PPPA) Board. PPPA granted the approval for the tech park at the first board meeting under the chairmanship of Minister for Planning, Development & Reforms Khusro Bakhtyar.

This multi-billion dollar initiative is aimed at developing the knowledge economy of Pakistan through innovation and growth of hi-tech entities. NSTP will serve as an innovation powerhouse for businesses by boosting the university’s chief strengths and unique position in the global technology market.

The key thematic areas of the technology include automobile technology, education technology, defense technology, finance technology, Agriculture technology, health technology, and smart technology. The university is also planning to increase the number, scope, and breadth of these technology areas in the coming years. NUST universities support innovations by organizing hackathons, open house events for tech projects and global accelerator programs to support train and support Pakistani startups for the global tech market.

NSTP is the first Science and Technology Park (STP) in Pakistan. NUST university with its well-established ecosystem to support innovation, technology transfer and commercialization is the most suitable place for a technology park like this. NSTP has also revealed its logo, which is visible on the NUST and NSTP websites and their social media pages.

The logo displays the goal of NSTP which is to create the first innovation and technological hub in Pakistan to build the gap between academia and the Sci-tech industry. This platform will also serve as a hub of innovation, a new national tech-pad where entrepreneurs and organizations with great ideas can come together to discover, collaborate and build new instruments of technology.

 

[Verve]

Excellent!

 

[ghazi52]

Formal inauguration of Rashakai Economic Zone KP to be held after Eid, China to invest USD $138 million in the Special Economic Zone

 

[ghazi52]

470 Cops of special protection unit (SPU) for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor completed their 6 month training in Police College Sihala. While training, officials learned skills in Krav Maga, modern weaponry, First Aid. Army played a key role in the training.

 

[ghazi52]

 

[aziqbal]

In total there is 15 CPEC energy related projects producing over 11,000 MW

5 highway projects covering over 1,000 km

however I would like to see more of these special economic zones

Chinas opening up policy in the early 1980s focused around the special economic zones on the coastal cities which then expanded to the rest of the country

Pakistan should try and copy that

 

[JSCh]

Largest transportation infrastructure under CPEC completed
Source: Xinhua| 2019-07-24 12:28:33|Editor: mingmei

ISLAMABAD, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The construction of the 392-km Sukkur-Multan Motorway under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been completed after the National Highway Authority (NHA) on Tuesday presented a substantial completion certification to the constructor China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC).

The motorway, which is known as M5 in Pakistan and the largest transportation infrastructure project under CPEC, is a part of the country's Peshawar-Karachi Motorway and was completed two weeks ahead of contract due date. The M5 was designed for speeds of up to 120 kmh with a total investment around 2.89 billion U.S. dollars.

NHA M5 General Manager Muhammad Naseem Arif said during a ceremony held in Multan that the motorway is very impressive in terms of its quality and construction process, adding that the authority closely worked with the CSCEC and overcame a number of difficulties so that they could complete the great project within three years.

Li Ganchun, chief of the M5 project from the CSCEC, appreciated the security provided by the Pakistani side, saying that the M5 will help Pakistan connect its north and south, improve the country's transportation situation and facilitate social economic development in the region along the motorway.

According to the CSCEC, the M5 project had created some 29,000 jobs for the locals during the construction. The Chinese constructor also built schools, roads, bridges, wells and water channel for the locals to make their lives more convenient.

The motorway is expected to open to traffic in August.

 

[Hephaestus]

Honest question:
If CPEC is such a huge bonanza for Pakistan in terms of investment.
1. Why is it not showing up in the foreign direct investment (FDI) numbers?
2. Why is Pakistan’s current account balance still negative?
3. Why is Pakistan’s current account balance actually getting worse?

 

[Clutch]

Honest question:
If CPEC is such a huge bonanza for Pakistan in terms of investment.
1. Why is it not showing up in the foreign direct investment (FDI) numbers?
2. Why is Pakistan’s current account balance still negative?
3. Why is Pakistan’s current account balance actually getting worse?

Mainly due to previous government corruption. No matter how beneficial a project is... If it is rife with corruption you will see issues like your point 123

CPEC to bring prosperity in Balochistan : Special Assistant to CM
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July 28, 2019
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QUETTA, Jul 28 (APP):Special Assistant to CM Balochistan Rameen Muhamma Hassani on Sunday said federal and provincial government were paying special attention on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project to make it successful which would bring development and prosperity in country including Balochistan.

 

[JSCh]

Construction of Sukkur-Multan Motorway under CPEC completed
Source: Xinhua| 2019-08-06 08:23:04|Editor: ZX
Aerial photo taken on Aug. 5, 2019 shows the view of Sukkur-Multan Motorway in central Pakistan's Multan. The construction of the 392-km Sukkur-Multan Motorway under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been completed. The motorway known as M5 in Pakistan was designed for speeds of up to 120 kmh with a total investment around 2.89 billion U.S. dollars. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal)

 

[ghazi52]

Construction Work of Kulal Ceramics is proceeding towards it's completion phase at Hattar Special Economic Zone KP