Pakistan, China to take CPEC beyond infrastructure

October 12, 2026 (MLN): Pakistan and China are moving the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into a more ambitious second phase that shifts the focus from building infrastructure to industrial partnership, from government-led projects to business-to-business cooperation, and from bilateral connectivity to regional and global value chains.

The first phase delivered 43 projects worth about $25bn, including 17 energy projects that added around 8,900MW to the national grid, two coal mines, the Matiari-Lahore high-voltage transmission line, major transport links and some 200,000 direct jobs.

The new phase will be built around industrialisation as its main economic engine, with Pakistan positioned as a production and export base linking China with South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

It will also widen into agriculture modernisation, responsible mining, data, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud infrastructure, e-commerce, cybersecurity, digital payments and industrial automation, while Gwadar is to move from a transit point to a hub that creates value through its port, free zone, logistics, fisheries, processing and tourism.

Federal Minister for Planning and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal laid out the vision in an article published by China Daily, APP reported.

 Recalling his association with CPEC since its start in 2013, he said the corridor’s strength lies in the two countries’ ability to think long term and find practical solutions together, rather than in any single project.

He said CPEC 2.0 will merge with URAAN Pakistan, the national transformation framework, whose priorities match the corridor’s five pillars of growth, innovation, green development, livelihoods, and openness and regional connectivity.

He said China is a partner and accelerator of Pakistan’s industrial upgrading while Pakistan remains the owner of its priorities, and that private enterprise is being brought to the centre of the corridor, with success measured by Chinese firms manufacturing profitably in Pakistan and Pakistani producers entering Chinese and global markets.

He said Pakistan is pursuing a deeper AI partnership with China covering joint research, computing infrastructure, skills, start-ups and responsible governance, and has proposed a Pakistan-China Knowledge Corridor as a central pillar of CPEC 2.0, backed by demand-driven training and apprenticeships.

He added that Pakistan offers Chinese companies a large market, a young labour force, natural resources and access to the Arabian Sea, and is adapting the principles behind China’s industrial transformation, including policy consistency, empowered institutions, infrastructure readiness and investment facilitation, to its own conditions.

He said the government’s commitment to protecting Chinese citizens, institutions and projects is unwavering, and that by 2047 the corridor’s strongest legacy will be a more capable Pakistan that produces, innovates and exports at a higher level.

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