November 30, 2018: China has been working with Pakistan to invite third-party companies to join projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is in line with China's opening-up attitude.
“For instance, China and Pakistan have made clear that they welcome countries like the US, the UK and Australia to invest in the Gwadar industrial zone,” Long Xingchun, a visiting senior fellow at the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, told the Global Times on Friday.
For China, the CPEC is an important channel through which Beijing promotes its idea of connectivity and cooperation with the rest of the world and extends its footprint. For Pakistan, the CPEC helps improve its basic infrastructure and eventually boost its economy.
Nonetheless, the CPEC has triggered a debate since its beginning. Such oft-repeated criticisms say that China aims to achieve global domination without caring for Pakistan's development and that Beijing has inflicted a debt burden on Pakistan.
In early November, Prime Minister Imran Khan embarked on his first visit to China, widely seen as the leader's support for the implementation of the CPEC that had slowed down over the past few months owing to the political transition in Pakistan.
Zoon Ahmed Khan, a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Belt and Road Initiative, Tsinghua University, said that China's willingness to welcome the change shows China's broader Belt and Road mindset.
Zamir Ahmed Awan, a Pakistani and non-resident fellow of Beijing-based think tank the Center for China and Globalization said that “CPEC is the decision of over 200 million people of Pakistan. CPEC is an essential element of Pakistan's national strategy. We are committed to CPEC and believe [that] CPEC is the only way forward for Pakistan.”
“The CPEC has already generated dividends, with Pakistan's economy developing and people's lives improving. The West simply cast doubt on the project without providing any real assistance to Pakistan's economy. China helps Pakistan with poverty alleviation and wiping out terrorism,” Long said.
The CPEC, a flagship project under the China-proposed Belt and Road initiative, was agreed between the two “iron brothers” in 2013. The $60 billion corridor is a network of roads, pipelines, power plants, industrial parks and a port on the Arabian Sea.
Five years since its launch, the project has generated 75,000 jobs for Pakistanis, and the figure is expected to multiply 10 times in the next 15 years, largely in infrastructure, energy and transportation sectors. More importantly, it is improving Pakistan's investment environment, according to experts.
(APP)
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