ISLAMABAD
\nA number of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects are making renewed progress as the CPEC, a flagship project under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), enters its next phase, helping the country to alleviate energy shortages and empowering its economic growth.
\n\u201cEntering 2024, CPEC projects have achieved new progress,\u201d the Global Times reported. \u201cThe Karot hydropower project, a 720 megawatt (MW) hydropower plant developed on the Jhelum River in Pakistan and the first ever large-scale hydropower project under the BRI, has generated a total of 3.1 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2023,\u201d China Three Gorges Corporation, which invested in and is leading construction of the project, announced on its website.
\nIn December, two China-donated projects, including a seawater desalination plant and the upgrade of the Pak-China Friendship Hospital, were inaugurated in the Gwadar district of southwestern Balochistan province. The desalination plant will provide 5,000 tons per day of potable water to help address a severe drinking water shortage, while the Pak-China Friendship Hospital has boosted its capacity to 150 beds from the original 50.
\n\u201cAt the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant, the K2 and K3 units that both use Hualong One, China\u2019s third-generation nuclear power reactor with full intellectual property rights, are churning out a combined 20 billion kilowatt hours each year, satisfying the production and residential electricity use of two million people while saving energy equivalent to 6.24 million tons of standard coal,\u201d the Global Times learned from China National Nuclear Corporation.
\nIn July last year, Unit 5 (C-5) of the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant broke ground, marking the 7th nuclear reactor exported from China to Pakistan. \u201cPakistan is on the right side of history by standing with China as the game changer. CPEC\u2019s second phase will unveil record development and economic uplift in the country,\u201d said Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Defense.
\nLaunched in 2013, the CPEC is a corridor linking Gwadar port with Kashi in Northwest China\u2019s Xinjiang region, highlighting energy, transportation, and industrial cooperation. In its first phase, the CPEC added more than 8,000 MW of power-generating capacity to the Pakistani national grid.
\nMore than 800 kilometers of highways were built, while more than 800 kilometers of fiber-optic cable were laid. More than 200,000 jobs were created, according to data from the Pakistani Embassy in China. To jointly promote the development of the CPEC, China and Pakistan held the Fourth Meeting of the CPEC Joint Working Group on International Cooperation and Coordination in Islamabad in late January.
\n\u201cThe next phase of CPEC will be advanced in a multi-prong fashion, with progress in connectivity, industrialization, and agriculture,\u201d Pakistani Ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi told the Global Times in a recent interview.
\n\u201cProjects including the optimization of the ML-1 (Mainline-1) railway project and the realignment of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) are expected to see concrete progress,\u201d the envoy said.
\nPresent at the joint working group meeting, Hashmi revealed, \u201cBoth sides expressed satisfaction at the pace of progress that is being achieved on CPEC as a whole, and Pakistan and China welcome the third-party participation in line with CPEC\u2019s spirit of economic collaboration, shared prosperity, and shared gains.\u201d \u201cBoth sides have agreed to extend the CPEC to third parties,\u201d the ambassador said.
\n\u201cThe special economic zone can be a platform through which third-party investment could come in,\u201d said the envoy. \u201cMore efforts will be made to ensure the security and safety of Chinese personnel and projects,\u201d he noted.
\nChinese observers said, \u201cAs a witness to the strong relationship enjoyed by the two countries, the CPEC has developed in the past decade to be a key link and lifeline of the BRI, benefiting bilateral economic and trade cooperation as well as economic cooperation in the South Asia region.\u201d
\n\u201cThe economic corridor\u2019s role in poverty alleviation, improving people\u2019s livelihoods, and empowering the local populace is significant, Song Wei, a professor at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at the Beijing Foreign Studies University,\u201d told the Global Times.
\n\u201cMoving forward, the CPEC, as a flagship of BRI, will see more connectivity and infrastructure projects to be built to further the economic corridor\u2019s function as a key vehicle for economic cooperation and energy security as the BRI enters a high-quality development phase in the new era,\u201d Song said.
\nThe ambassador dismissed the so-called \u201cdebt trap\u201d narratives used by some Western media outlets to frame CPEC projects, saying, \u201cSuch allegations are no more than \u201cpropaganda or political opinion, and what people have not heard is facts.\u201d
\n\u201cPeople who indulge in such theories will have to see things from the perspective of developing countries,\u201d the envoy noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD A number of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects are making renewed progress as the CPEC, a flagship project under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), enters its next phase, helping the country to alleviate energy shortages and empowering its economic growth. \u201cEntering 2024, CPEC projects have achieved new progress,\u201d the Global Times reported. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-389227","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n