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PM pushing CPEC ahead with new ‘Pakistan speed’: China​

Chinese official sees ‘a lot of progress being made on CPEC’

APP
August 04, 2022


China on Wednesday highly appreciated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for pushing ahead the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with new ‘Pakistan speed’ and acknowledged his untiring efforts for advancing practical cooperation between the two countries.

“We highly appreciate the prime minister’s statements. He (Shehbaz Sharif) has done so much for practical cooperation between the two countries,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said during her regular briefing in response to a question raised by APP.

Shehbaz, in a recent meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong, underlined his commitment to unlock the full economic and connectivity potential of CPEC through expedited and high-quality development of CPEC projects.

The spokesperson remarked that Prime Minister Shehbaz valued Pakistan’s relations with China, adding, “Shehbaz Sharif has many times reaffirmed that Pakistan will push ahead the building of CPEC with new Pakistan speed.”

She said that after he took office, the incumbent premier had visited Gwadar port twice and hosted a seminar between Pakistani and Chinese companies and had done so much for practical cooperation.

“So, with the guidance of the leaders of both countries and with our concerted efforts, we are seeing a lot of progress being made on CPEC,” she added.

“We are ready to further implement the understandings between the leaders of our two countries and building on what we have achieved and current projects,” Hua said.

She went on to say that the two countries would further focus on industrial development, people’s livelihoods, agriculture, science and technology and information technology, etc. to make CPEC into a demonstration project for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

“This will go a long way for China-Pakistan relations and the China-Pakistan community with a shared future and also the well-being of the two countries and the people around the region,” she added.

During the meeting held at PM House last week, the prime minister had emphasised the importance of key projects like Main Line One (ML-1) and Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) in Pakistan’s development plans and expressed his desire to move towards the finalisation of these projects in the upcoming 11th meeting of the CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee (JPC).
 
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Industrial Cooperation​

In addition to enhancing economic cooperation and connectivity across the region, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor serves to enhance industrial cooperation between difference parts of Pakistan as well.


Projects aimed at engaging various regions of Pakistan into industrial cooperation through resource mobility, economic integration, and information connectivity are stated below.


Project NameCompany NameStatusProgress
Gwadar-Nawabshah LNG Terminal and Pipeline, 700 kmChina Petroleum Pipeline BureauTo be inaugurated
40%
Haier & Ruba Economic Zone PhaseIIHaier Electrical Applications Corporation Ltd.Feasibility stage
15%
DTMB Demonstration ProjectTBDGovernment MOU Signed
5%
Lahore Orange Line Metro TrainChina Railway-China North Industries Group Corporation(CR-NORINCO)Under construction
70%
Promotion of TD-LTE commercialization in PakistanTBDFeasibility stage
15%
 
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Winding up approved...

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ISLAMABAD – The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has contributed to the high-quality green and sustainable development in Pakistan, and it will push for more such cooperation to promote sustainable and green development in the country.

The views were expressed by Chinese and Pakistan envoys at a webinar exploring green development under CPEC, according to a report published by China Economic Net (CEN) on Friday.

While delivering a keynote speech at the forum, Nong Rong, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan said that China and Pakistan have boosted cooperation in green energy. “Five wind power projects have been completed under CPEC with a total capacity of 300 megawatts, and another 300-megawatt solar power project has been completed,” noted Nong Rong revealed that more green projects are ongoing under CPEC as “[the] Karot hydropower plant has successfully entered commercial operation and large hydropower projects such as SK are progressing,” adding that the Matiari-Lahore power transmission line helps cut “the line loss from 17percent to 4percent, greatly reducing energy loss and improving efficiency.”

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Green and sustainable development is also generating huge employment opportunities in Pakistan, shared the envoy. “According to statistics, CPEC has created 85,000 jobs for Pakistan,” Nong explicated, “For example, the construction of Gwadar port has created 4,000 jobs among which 3,800 are [taken by the] Pakistani people.”

Such ideas are echoed by Moin Ul Haque, Pakistani Ambassador to China, who termed CPEC as a “people-centric, socially inclusive, environmentally friendly, and green and sustainable” initiative.
Haque said that “the recently completed Karot hydropower project is an example of [the] clean, green vision of CPEC” and that he was more than “happy to see more CPEC projects [being] taken into consideration in the green development aspect.”

With a growing emphasis on green development, said Haque, China and Pakistan have been working to build a green corridor to focus on areas of agriculture, environment, food, climate change, and food security. “Our two sides are now working to finalise the blueprint of the green corridor to carry out practical cooperation. And in this respect, agriculture has been identified as a key area of cooperation,” noted Haque.

As per Haque, a bilateral meeting to this end will be held before the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) on CPEC this year, and an action plan is also underway with the support of many research institutions, the academia and ministries.

Hosted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), the CPEC Green-Development High-Level Policy Dialogue aims to engage the key stakeholders from China and Pakistan including the governments, investors, regulators, developers, academia, and civil society to reflect on the success of major initiatives implemented under the BRI and seek a better way forward.


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China-Pakistan partners work together to create a model of energy cooperation | The Three Gorges South Asia Corporation has invited international peer experts and scholars to study the achievements of power construction in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
On the morning of September 8, 2022 local time, Three Gorges South Asia Company invited world-class industry consulting institutions, social environment consulting companies, power industry enterprises, as well as Pakistani government officials, experts and scholars to gather online and offline to organize and hold the "International Greenfield Project Development and Construction Seminar", released the "China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Power Achievements and Market Prospects" report, and jointly discussed the achievements and market prospects of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor power construction. More than 150 people attended, including Pakistan's Minister of Electricity, leaders of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, international power industry experts and scholars, and executives of other Chinese-funded enterprises in Pakistan.
The "China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Power Achievements and Market Outlook" report was jointly completed by three gorges South Asia Corporation with the assistance of the Pakistan-China Society (PCI), the National University of Science and Technology of Pakistan (NUST), the Institute of Sustainable Development Policy (SDPI) and dozens of senior experts and scholars from Pakistan's power system. The report systematically summarizes the valuable practical and theoretical achievements in the construction of power projects in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, analyzes the current situation of Pakistan's power industry, sorts out the achievements of the current corridor power construction, and looks forward to the future development direction of the industry. Experts and scholars from the Pakistani side attending the meeting said that through the energy projects in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Pakistan's power supply has undergone rapid changes, achieved leapfrog development, and made great contributions to the power security of the Pakistani people.
The "International Greenfield Project Development and Construction Seminar" was held in the mode of "online + offline", and the Three Gorges South Asia Company, as the president unit of the Power and Energy Industry Branch of the All-Pakistan Association of Chinese-funded Enterprises, invited a number of world-class industry consulting institutions, social and environmental consulting companies and other Chinese-funded enterprises in Pakistan to participate in the experience sharing, deeply discussed the construction management experience of a number of greenfield projects invested and built by Chinese-funded enterprises and the countermeasures for environmental and social problems, and focused on sharing the "Karot Practice" of the Greenfield Development Project of the Three Gorges Group. Actively promote win-win cooperation.
Zhang Jun, general representative of the Three Gorges South Asia Corporation in Pakistan, said in his speech that the Three Gorges Group has been deeply engaged in the Pakistani market for more than 30 years, promoted the development and utilization of clean energy such as hydropower, wind power and solar energy, carried out in-depth investigation and research on the Pakistani power industry, and accumulated valuable practical experience and theoretical achievements in the Pakistani power market. In Pakistan, CTG is committed to providing Affordable and Clean Energy for Pakistan, and through participating in three "China-Pakistan Economic Corridor" projects, including Karot, actively practicing the "Belt and Road" initiative, and deeply participating in the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the Karot Hydropower Station with a total installed capacity of 720,000 kilowatts is one of its representatives. In the past seven years of Construction of Karot, we have seen engineers, managers and workers from China and Pakistan work together to overcome the global outbreak of THE new crown epidemic, and the project has been commercially operational 54 days ahead of schedule. As a Chinese engineer who has witnessed the entire investment in the project, I am extremely proud of the achievements of professionals from China and Pakistan.
Wang Shengjie, director of the Political Information Department of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, said in his speech that the energy sector of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is the largest investment section of the corridor, a successful example of early harvest, and has made special and irreplaceable contributions to Pakistan's solution to power shortages and serve economic and social development, especially in special periods such as anti-epidemic and flood control.
Pakistan's Electricity Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan pointed out in his speech that the power problem has always been one of the factors restricting Pakistan's development, and China can not only help Pakistan build various types of power stations through the efficient use of various types of energy, but also enhance Pakistan's energy independent supply capacity. The #CPEC Power Achievements and Market Outlook report is conducive to deepening the Pakistani public's understanding of the current situation and future development of Pakistan's power sector, as well as the contribution of CPEC to Pakistan's power sector. Pakistan's relevant personnel should learn from Chinese personnel and deepen industrial cooperation between the two countries through the construction of corridors and other projects. China is an important partner of Pakistan in the field of energy, and China's development experience is worth learning from Pakistan.

Source: Three Gorges South Asia Company
 
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Planning Ministry Presents Details of 28 Completed Projects Under CPEC​

October 15, 2022

As many as 28 projects have been completed with a cost of US$ 18.8 billion under the Framework of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) including 12 projects in the Energy sector, 10 projects of Infrastructure development and 6 projects in the Socio-Economic Development sector.

In a written reply to the National Assembly, the minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhry said that six projects in Punjab, seven in Sindh, two in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, six in Balochistan one in Gilgit Baltistan, one in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and five in Islamabad were completed under the CPEC project.

Currently, nine Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have been agreed upon under CPEC, namely Allama Iqbal Industrial City Faisalabad, Punjab, Rashakai SEZ, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dhabeji SEZ, Sindh, Bostan SEZ, Mirpur SEZ, AJK, ICT Model City Islamabad, Industrial Park on Pakistan Still Mill Land Karachi, Mohmand Marbal City, ex-FATA and Maqpandass SEZ Gilgit.

Out of these nine SEZs, the Federal Board of Investment in consultation with the Chinese side have prioritized the Allama Iqbal Industrial City, Rashakai SEZ, Bostan SEZ, Dhabeji Special Economic Zone for fast-track development, he added.
 
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Pakistan, China to launch three new projects​

October 22, 2022



BEIJING, Oct 21 (APP): Pakistan and China have agreed to launch three new corridors, including the China-Pakistan Digital Corridor that would help enhance cooperation in different fields of Information Technology (IT), said Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque.

Pakistan has a rich repertoire of talent and human resources in different fields of science and technology and IT-based science and technology have become very important for Pakistan.

“We would be an important source of help for China in terms of software development. So, we are working together to set up training centres in Pakistan for developing software in different fields of IT”, he told China Economic Net (CEN).

He said that the two countries recently agreed to launch three new corridors: the China-Pakistan Green Corridor, which would focus on the agricultural environment, food security, and green development, the China-Pakistan Health Corridor which will help Pakistan get efficiency in the medical field, and then the China-Pakistan Digital Corridor which will boost Pakistan’s IT industry.

Ammar Jaffri, former Additional Director General FIA and founder of Digital Pakistan said that emerging technologies have now become a lifeline for the achievement of The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets.

“We are aiming to organise an international conference about artificial intelligence on March 23, 2023, in which local and foreign enterprises would participate and we would take strategic decisions to engage the government of Pakistan, and international organisations in our mega projects”, he mentioned.

He further said that AI in areas of cyber security, SDGs, and emerging technologies is a much-needed zone where Pakistan has to work with China while Pakistan has a young population advantage in the region.
 
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11 power projects completed under CPEC​

October 24, 2022

ISLAMABAD, Oct 23 (APP):As many as 11 power projects with accumulative capacity of 6,369 MW under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have been commissioned while 10 more projects are under various stages of development.
According to data, in the energy mix of CPEC power projects, coal is leading with 8,220 MW, hydel 3,428 MW, Solar 1000 MW and wind 400 MW.

The projects already completed are included 1320 MW each Sahiwal Coal Power, Port Qasim, China-HUB Coal Power, 660 MW Engro Thar Power and Mine, 330 MW HUBCO Thar, 720 MW Karot Hydropower, 400 MW Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park, 100 MW UEP Wind Farm, 99 MW Three Gorge Wind Power Projects, 50 MW each Sachal Wind Farm and Hydro China Dawood Wind.

The projects which are under various stages of development are included 1,320 MW Shanghai Electric (TCB-1) and Mine, 330 MW ThalNova Thar Power, Azad 700.7 MW Azad Pattan Hydropower Project, 1,124 MW Kohala Hydropower, 884 MW Suki Kinari Hydropower, 1,320 MW Thar (Oracle) Coal Plant, 600 MW Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park, 300 MW Gwadar Coal/Solar Power Plant and 50 MW each Cacho Wind Power and Westren Energy Pvt Ltd.

330 MW ThalNova Thar Power Project will start generation by December while 1320 MW Shanghai Electric will commence its generation before the next summer season.


There are some six potential power projects which is expected to be included in CPEC in future are 640 MW Mahl Hydropower, 135 MW Taunsa Hydropower, 350 MW Toren More Hydropower, 260 MW Jameshill More Hydropower and 80 Phander Hydropower Projects.
 
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Some 27 projects worth $19 billion have so far been completed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) while 63 more with investment of $35.2 billion are scheduled to be completed by 2030, a report titled “Overview of Pakistan’s Power Sector and its Future Outlook” issued by the China Three Gorges South Asia Investment Ltd (CSAIL) revealed.

According to the report, 27 projects are at implementation stages with investment of $7.7 billion, which are scheduled to be completed by 2025. Thirty six more projects are in the pipeline with an approximate investment of $27.5 billion, which will be completed by 2030.

According to details, in the energy sector, 11 projects with investment of $12 billion have so far been completed, while four projects worth $6 billion are under the implementation process, which are expected to be completed by 2025.

Similarly, seven more projects worth $7.4 billion are in the pipeline and are expected to be completed by 2030.
 
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ECNEC approves $11.3b CPEC projects​

November 1, 2022



ISLAMABAD: Hours before Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Beijing, back-to-back meetings of various forums approved almost $12 billion worth of three major projects for inclusion in the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and cleared a longstanding demand by Chinese investors for escrow accounts for automatic payment of their dues against electricity supply.

To set a positive atmosphere for the high-profile visit, these major decisions were taken swiftly by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet and the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in hurriedly called meetings that took up summaries prepared the same day and delivered to the members on table. Both meetings were presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

Interestingly, all the three summaries for development projects for inclusion in the CPEC framework were moved the same day, but assumed exchange rate of Rs200 per dollar for the $9.85bn railway project from Karachi to Peshawar, Rs230 per dollar for Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) and Rs176 per dollar for a small hydropower project in Azad Kashmir.

Ecnec approved in principle a summary of the Ministry of Railways’ modified plan for upgrade of the existing Main Line-1 (ML-1) project at a total cost of $9.85bn (Rs1.97 trillion) from its previously approved cost of $6.5bn in August 2020 — an increase of 45 per cent.

This is expected to be formally pitched for Chinese participation during PM Sharif’s visit and involve Chinese share of $8.4bn.

The approval, in the meantime, is subject to recommendations of cost, technical details and preferably an equity participation financial model on the basis of third-party validation by an independent consultant and in consultation with the Chinese side.

Ecnec also approved the KCR project at a total cost of Rs292.388bn (about $1.27bn) with a foreign share of Rs263.149bn. It approved the establishment of a 48MW hydropower project in Neelum district, Azad Kashmir, subject to revision of cost based on the exchange rate of dollar at Rs220.

Separately, the ECC approved for immediate activation a Rs50bn escrow account — Pakistan Energy Revolving Fund (PERF) — for automatic payment of dues to Chinese power suppliers because insurer Sinosure stopped providing insurance to investments in Pakistan because of heavy buildup of dues in the existing investments. The power sector’s payables to Chinese investors have gone beyond Rs300bn.

The Ministry of Energy (power division) presented another summary on PERF. The ECC, after deliberation, approved the opening of an assignment account under the title of PERF to be opened with the SBP Islamabad and operated by the CPPA.

The ECC also approved as a special case changes to commissioning period of Shanghai Electric’s 1320MW Thar Coal Block-1 Power Generation Company (TBC). The power division had sought amendment to the power purchase agreement (PPA) for commissioning of designated project — CPEC’s TCB-I (on Thar Coal) without financial close.
 
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China, Pakistan expand cooperation in CPEC projects: Chinese FM spokesperson​

November 22, 2022



BEIJING, Nov 21 (APP): China and Pakistan have expanded cooperation under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and made notable progress in areas such as green, information technology, industrial development and health, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Mao Ning said on Monday.

“CPEC is the flagship project for China-Pakistan cooperation. It has made tangible contributions to the social economic development in Pakistan and regional interconnectivity,” she said during her regular briefing in response to a question asked by APP.

She remarked that in recent years, the two sides had expanded cooperation under the CPEC and notable progress had been made in such areas as green development, industrial development, Information Technology development and health.

Mao Ning informed that the first meeting of the joint working group on Information Technology (IT) was held.

China donated the solar equipment to Baluchistan province, and a green project in Gwadar port also made progress, she said and added, “We also made COVID containment jointly.”

The spokesperson said that the Chinese side was ready to work with Pakistan together to implement the important consensus of our two leaders and to follow through on practical cooperation to make CPEC a demonstrative project for high quality cooperation under the Belt and Road.

It may be mentioned here that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s maiden visit to China early this month was unprecedented, constructive and successful.
The two sides agreed to further build on the health, industry, digital and green corridors launched earlier this year and carry out relevant cooperation.
 
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